Exporting organic products to the Netherlands
The Netherlands has the simplest control landscape in the EU — one control body, Skal — and one of the strictest registration requirements. Rotterdam also makes it the EU's largest organic entry point.
The EU framework that applies
Organic production, labelling and imports across the EU are governed by Regulation (EU) 2018/848, applicable since 1 January 2022, when it replaced Regulation (EC) 834/2007. National authorities administer and enforce it; they do not set their own organic standard.
Processed food may be labelled organic only where at least 95% of its agricultural ingredients by weight are organic, with the remainder drawn from the authorised list in the implementing rules.
What must appear on the label
- The EU organic logo — the leaf of twelve white stars on green. Compulsory on pre-packaged organic food produced in the EU; optional on imported product.
- The control body code, placed directly below the logo, in the format
XX-BIO-NNN— ISO country code, then BIO or its national-language equivalent, then a three-character reference. - The agricultural origin statement below the code: EU Agriculture, non-EU Agriculture or EU/non-EU Agriculture. A country name may be used instead where at least 98% of the agricultural raw material comes from that country.
Getting a consignment in
Every organic consignment entering the EU needs an electronic Certificate of Inspection (COI) issued and endorsed in TRACES NT, under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2306. Extracts are used where a consignment is split. The COI is issued in the country of export before the goods leave — it cannot be obtained afterwards.
There are two routes in. Under the compliance regime (Article 46), operators in third countries are certified against EU rules by control bodies the Commission has recognised, listed in Annex II of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325 and amended by implementing act. Under the older equivalence regime, product may enter from a recognised third country listed in Annex I of the same regulation.
A deadline worth watching. Recognition of the eleven remaining equivalent third countries — Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Tunisia and the United States — together with the Annex II equivalence listings, is set to expire on 31 December 2026.
The Commission has tabled proposal COM(2025) 780 to extend that deadline, but as at the review date of this page it had not been adopted. Anyone sourcing from those eleven origins should confirm the current legal position before contracting for delivery beyond that date.
1) Mandatory organic standards and labels
Regulation (EU) 2018/848 applies directly. Policy sits with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature; the NVWA supervises; and Skal Biocontrole, a body established under public law, is the designated control body.
Because Skal is the only Dutch control body, there is a single code: NL-BIO-01. There is no list of competing bodies to check.
National logo
There is no Dutch state organic logo. The EKO mark is privately owned by Stichting EKO-keurmerk and carries no legal status of its own.
2) Important voluntary standards and labels
- EKO-keurmerk — the established Dutch organic mark, now positioned around additional biodiversity and sustainability criteria above the EU baseline.
- Demeter — biodynamic; a significant presence in Dutch specialist retail.
- On the way to PlanetProof — a Dutch sustainability mark that is not organic and is frequently confused with it by exporters.
Dutch supermarkets work largely to the EU baseline plus their own specifications. The specialist channel (Ekoplaza, Odin) is where the private marks decide listings.
3) Approved certification and control bodies
All certification for the Dutch market runs through Skal Biocontrole. Registered operators are searchable on Skal's own site, which makes verifying a Dutch counterparty straightforward.
A non-EU exporter is certified by a control body recognised by the Commission for its country and product category under Article 46. Skal certifies the Dutch importer, not you.
- Skal Biocontrole — www.skal.nl
- NVWA — www.nvwa.nl
4) Import requirements
Standard EU procedure: an electronic COI in TRACES NT for every consignment, endorsed in the country of export before departure. Skal endorses import documentation for consignments destined for the Netherlands.
Registration with Skal comes first. Any operator trading organic product in the Netherlands must be registered with Skal before any organic activity begins, with annual fees and mandatory notification of imports. Registration is not retrospective — trading first and registering later is a compliance failure, not a formality.
Rotterdam is the largest point of entry for organic product into the EU. Note the consequence: goods that transit the Netherlands without further processing do not become EU-origin product, and the third-country route continues to apply to them.
5) Further information
- Skal BiocontroleThe single Dutch control body; registration, import notification and the public register of certified operators.
- NVWADutch food and consumer product safety authority; supervises Skal and handles border controls.
- Government of the NetherlandsMinistry responsible for organic policy and national implementing rules.
- Regulation (EU) 2018/848The base act governing organic production, labelling and imports across the EU.
- European Commission — organic farmingPolicy hub, legislation index and guidance on the import regime.
- TRACES NTWhere the electronic Certificate of Inspection for every organic consignment is issued and endorsed.
- Organic Farming Information System (OFIS)Commission database of control bodies and third-country recognitions.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-06