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Exporting organic products to India

India recognises foreign certification only under a signed equivalence arrangement, and each consignment needs a transaction certificate from a body covered by it. Outside that, NPOP certification is required.

1) Mandatory organic standards and labels

Organic food sold in India is governed by the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations 2017, made under the FSS Act. Product must be certified under one of two recognised systems: NPOP (the National Programme for Organic Production, run through APEDA under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry) or PGS-India (a participatory guarantee system under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare).

The NPOP standard is actively moving — the current edition was published recently and amendments to its annexes have been out for consultation. Confirm which edition your certifier is auditing against.

The marks

  • Jaivik Bharat — the FSSAI unified organic identity mark, displayed with the FSSAI licence number. It is the umbrella mark covering both NPOP and PGS-certified product.
  • India Organic — the NPOP certification mark.
  • PGS-India Organic (green) and PGS-India Green (in-conversion) for the participatory route.

In-conversion product sits outside the 2017 Regulations and may not carry the Jaivik Bharat logo. Small direct-selling producers below the turnover threshold are exempt from certification but not from the requirement that claims be truthful.

2) Important voluntary standards and labels

  • PGS-India — official but domestically oriented, and not usable for export documentation.
  • USDA NOP, EU organic, JAS, COR, Demeter, Fairtrade and GOTS for textiles — widely held by Indian operators as second certifications. Relevant to importing into India only where an arrangement exists.
  • Bharat Organics and state programmes such as Sikkim Organic — marketing initiatives rather than standards.

3) Approved certification and control bodies

NPOP-accredited certification bodies are accredited by the National Accreditation Body under APEDA, which publishes the official list.

All NPOP transactions run through TraceNet, which issues QR-coded electronic transaction certificates. Operator-level lookups and certificate verification are available through the same system.

A useful illustration of how recognition works both ways: USDA ended its recognition agreement with APEDA, and the transition period has closed. Indian product sold as USDA organic must now be certified by a USDA-accredited certifier directly. India's own accreditation is not universally accepted either — recognition is always specific and always reciprocal in form only.

4) Import requirements

The core rule: organic food imported under a bilateral or multilateral equivalence agreement need not be re-certified, provided it complies with the FSS Act and rules. Each consignment must be accompanied by a transaction certificate issued by an accredited certification body covered by the terms of that agreement.

Without a covering agreement, the product must be NPOP-certified to be sold as organic in India.

Labelling on import

FSSAI labelling compliance, plus the Jaivik Bharat logo and the FSSAI licence number. Without the FSSAI organic mark, imported organic product is not cleared for sale as organic.

Which arrangements are in force

  • Taiwan — a mutual recognition arrangement, India's first, implemented through APEDA and Taiwan's Agriculture and Food Agency.
  • Australia — a mutual recognition arrangement in force; only transaction certificates and Australian Organic Goods Certificates issued on or after the effective date are valid.
  • EU and Switzerland — NPOP is recognised as equivalent for unprocessed plant products. Note this recognition is principally outbound: it lets Indian product enter those markets. Do not assume it automatically clears EU-certified product for sale as organic inside India without checking the current APEDA notification.
  • Under negotiation — South Korea, Canada, Japan and others.

APEDA publishes a generic procedure for trading under a mutual recognition arrangement, and has also published a narrow but commercially useful pathway for importing NOP-certified organic ingredients into India for value addition and re-export to the United States.

The wording gap worth checking. The FSSAI regulation refers broadly to bilateral or multilateral agreements on the basis of equivalence, which is wider than what the EU and Swiss instruments actually cover. If you are relying on EU certification to sell inside India, confirm the current APEDA country notification rather than reading the regulation alone.

5) Further information

  • NPOP portal (APEDA)The standard, the arrangements, the list of accredited certification bodies and current announcements.
  • TraceNetWhere NPOP transaction certificates are issued and can be verified.
  • FSSAI — organic foodThe Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations and associated compendium.
  • Jaivik Bharat portalThe unified organic mark, with the official FAQ covering imports.
  • AMS — India trade policyDocuments the end of the APEDA recognition agreement and the transaction certificate requirements.

Last reviewed: 2026-09-06