Exporting organic products to the United Kingdom

Great Britain and Northern Ireland now run different organic regimes. GB kept the older assimilated EU rules; Northern Ireland applies the current EU regulation. Which one applies decides your documentation.

1) Mandatory organic standards and labels

Great Britain

GB operates the assimilated EU law — the framework and detailed rules carried over from the pre-2021 EU regime, administered domestically through the Organic Products Regulations 2009. GB did not adopt Regulation (EU) 2018/848, so the GB and EU rulebooks have diverged in substance while remaining mutually recognised as equivalent.

Protected terms: organic, organically grown, organically produced, and similar formulations. At least 95% of agricultural ingredients must be organic, all other ingredients and processing aids must be permitted, and the product and its suppliers must be certified. The rule extends to company and brand names. Note that bio and eco were removed from the published list of controlled terms — a change often missed.

There is no UK national organic logo. The EU leaf is optional on organic food produced in GB; if used, the product must meet the EU logo rules.

• Control body code in the format GB-ORG-NN
• An agricultural origin statement: UK Agriculture, UK or non-UK Agriculture, or Non-UK Agriculture. A more specific origin may be used where 98% of the agricultural ingredients come from that country.

Northern Ireland

Under the Windsor Framework, Northern Ireland continues to apply Regulation (EU) 2018/848 and the EU import regime. The EU leaf is mandatory on prepacked organic food produced in NI, control body codes take the form XI-ORG-NN, and the origin statement uses the EU forms.

2) Important voluntary standards and labels

Each of these is operated by a body that is also an approved control body, so the private mark and the statutory certification usually come together.

• Soil Association Organic — the most consumer-recognised UK organic mark; its standards exceed the legal baseline in several areas.
• Organic Farmers & Growers (OF&G) Organic — the largest UK certifier by certified land area; strong in arable, livestock and feed.
• Demeter — biodynamic, always additional to organic certification.
• Organic Food Federation — widely used by processors, importers and manufacturers.

Retailer own-label organic ranges act as commercial gatekeepers but are not standards in their own right.

3) Approved certification and control bodies

A UK-established importer must be certified by an approved UK control body, specifically for the importing activity. Defra publishes the definitive list, which sets out which bodies operate in GB, in NI, or both.

For the overseas exporter, what matters is the GB organic registers — two published lists covering recognised non-UK countries and territories, and recognised non-UK control bodies and control authorities. Both carry product-category scope, limitations and the expiry of each recognition.

A control body outside the UK seeking to certify exports to GB applies to Defra for recognition through a published process.

4) Import requirements

Your company must be established in the UK and certified by an approved UK control body for importing. The first consignee — the first party to receive the goods for further preparation or marketing, including splitting a consignment — must also hold organic certification.

Into Great Britain

• From the EU, EEA and Switzerland: no certificate of inspection is currently required. This waiver has been deferred several times and extended again; do not plan against any particular expiry date without checking the live Defra guidance.
• Origin condition on that waiver: it covers goods produced or processed in the EU/EEA or Switzerland. Third-country goods that merely transit without further processing are not eligible — repacking or relabelling does not count as processing.
• From all other countries: a GB Certificate of Inspection is required for every consignment, including samples and goods not intended for sale.

The GB COI is completed by the exporter and endorsed by the exporter's control body in the country of export, before the goods leave. It need not travel with the goods but must be lodged with the Port Health Authority or Border Control Post, which checks and signs it to release the consignment. Importing without an approved COI risks delay and loss of organic status.

Into Northern Ireland

• From the EU, EEA and Switzerland: no COI.
• From all other third countries: the importer must be registered in TRACES NT and obtain an EU COI per consignment — for food, feed and seed, including farms importing feed or seed for their own animals.
• GB to NI: a TRACES COI is required unless the goods move under the Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme, which covers prepacked retail goods for final consumption on the NI market, with Not for EU labelling. Goods destined for the EU, for further processing, or animal feed still need a COI.
• NI to GB: no COI required.

Equivalence

UK–EU organic equivalence operates under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and both sides continue to accept each other's standards. UK–Switzerland mutual recognition runs through the joint committee on agriculture. All other third countries are handled through the GB organic registers.

5) Further information

• Defra — importing organic food to the UKThe authoritative statement of when a certificate of inspection is and is not required.
• UK approved control bodiesThe definitive list with GB-ORG and XI-ORG codes and contacts.
• GB organic registersRecognised non-UK countries and control bodies, with product-category scope and expiry dates.
• Organic food labelling rulesProtected terms, control body codes, origin statements, and EU logo use in GB versus NI.
• Northern Ireland Retail Movement SchemeThe green-lane route for GB to NI movements, from the NI competent authority.
• Organic Products Regulations 2009The domestic administration and enforcement instrument for GB.

Last reviewed: 2026-09-06