Exporting organic products to the USA
Since the Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule took effect, every organic consignment entering the United States needs an electronic NOP Import Certificate, and the US importer of record must itself be NOP-certified. Both are hard gates.
1) Mandatory organic standards and labels
The governing statute is the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, implemented by the USDA organic regulations at 7 CFR Part 205 and administered by the National Organic Program (NOP) within AMS.
Product entering under an equivalence arrangement must still follow US labelling rules. This is explicit in the regulation and applies to retail packs and to bulk ingredients in non-retail containers alike.
The three labelling categories
| Category | Composition | USDA seal | "Certified organic by …" |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100% Organic | All ingredients and processing aids certified organic | Permitted | Required |
| Organic | At least 95% certified organic; remainder from the National List | Permitted | Required |
| Made with organic [named ingredients] | At least 70% certified organic | Prohibited | Required |
Below 70%, organic ingredients may be identified only in the ingredient statement. Water and salt are excluded from the percentage calculation.
Two labelling traps that catch European exporters repeatedly.
The phrase made with organic ingredients may not appear on the principal display panel — you must name up to three specific ingredients or food groups.
Naming only the certifier's code is non-compliant. The certifier's name must appear on the information panel, below the handler or distributor identification.
Wine
Wine with added sulfites can never be labelled organic in the US, whatever its organic content, and cannot carry the seal. It can only be wine made with organic grapes, with total sulfites at or below 100 ppm and all grapes certified. TTB label approval applies on top.
2) Important voluntary standards and labels
None of these has legal standing and none substitutes for NOP certification. All except Non-GMO Project sit on top of it.
- Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) — bronze, silver and gold tiers across soil health, animal welfare and farmworker fairness. Requires NOP certification or an approved international equivalent underneath.
- Real Organic Project — a farmer-led add-on that excludes hydroponic production and confinement operations.
- Demeter Biodynamic — requires organic certification underneath.
- Non-GMO Project Verified — not an organic standard. It addresses genetic engineering only, with no soil, input or welfare criteria, and is frequently misread by buyers.
- Fair Trade Certified — social and trade-terms criteria, independent of organic and commonly dual-certified.
- Certified Transitional — land in the 36-month conversion period. Not organic; cannot use the word or the seal.
3) Approved certification and control bodies
Certification is carried out by USDA-accredited certifying agents. The authoritative live list is the Certifier Locator in the Organic INTEGRITY Database — there is no standing published roster, and AMS's own prose pages have at times been out of date on the number.
A substantial share of accredited agents are domiciled outside the United States, so an exporter can usually find one operating in or near its own country.
Certifiers accredited by foreign governments under an equivalence or recognition arrangement are not in that list; they appear separately under INTEGRITY's trade partners module.
Before contracting, verify a counterparty's certified status in INTEGRITY. Suspended and revoked operations are searchable there too.
4) Import requirements
The NOP Import Certificate
An electronic NOP Import Certificate (NOP-IC) is mandatory for every shipment. It is generated by the exporting certifier in the INTEGRITY database, one per commodity or HTS code, and passed to the US importer, who files the number in CBP's ACE system.
Certification also now extends to importers, exporters and brokers or traders, including those that never take physical possession. Customs brokers doing only customs business remain exempt.
Two consequences worth planning around. The US importer of record must itself hold USDA NOP certification — a home-country handler certification does not cover it, and INTEGRITY will not accept a non-NOP-certified operation as the certificate recipient.
Reconditioning has ended. A consignment arriving without a valid NOP-IC can no longer be reconditioned. The only remaining options are immediate re-export, destruction, or donation by a certified importer.
Equivalence and recognition arrangements
Seven equivalence arrangements are in force — Canada, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Each has scope limits, and the limits matter more than the headline.
- European Union — product must be produced in the EU or finally processed in a member state. Aquatic animals and salt are excluded, as are products from animals treated with antibiotics. Wine must meet US organic winemaking rules.
- Canada — uniquely broad: third-country product can qualify if certified to USDA or Canadian standards through the entire supply chain.
- Republic of Korea — processed products only, finally processed in Korea, at least 95% organic. Fresh produce is outside it.
- Japan — extended to alcoholic beverages, with a stricter origin test for them. Crops in conversion are excluded.
- Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom — each excludes products from antibiotic-treated animals; Switzerland and the UK also exclude aquatic animals.
Two recognition agreements — New Zealand and Israel — work differently. USDA recognises the foreign government's accreditation capability only; every operation in the chain must be certified to the USDA standard and the product exported directly to the US. Israel's covers crops, wild crops and processed products but not livestock.
India and Mexico have no arrangement. The USDA–APEDA recognition agreement was terminated and its transition period has closed; Indian exporters must now be certified directly by a USDA-accredited certifier through the whole supply chain. Mexico has never had one — despite being the largest single source of US organic imports, it operates entirely on direct certification.
Enforcement at the border has tightened considerably, with NOP-IC data used to target consignments before clearance and CBP denying entry or seizing product for seal misuse. Assume the certificate will be checked.
5) Further information
- Strengthening Organic Enforcement (AMS)The rule that governs organic imports, with the official FAQ — the single most important page for an exporter.
- Organic INTEGRITY DatabaseVerify any operation's certification status; source of NOP Import Certificates and the Certifier Locator.
- AMS international trade partnersAuthoritative list of the equivalence and recognition arrangements, with per-country scope and exclusions.
- AMS labelling requirements for the US marketWritten for foreign exporters; covers the certifier-name rule and the wine restrictions.
- 7 CFR Part 205The live regulatory text of the USDA organic regulations.
- CBP AMS CATAIR guidelinesThe exact ACE data fields your customs broker has to file for an organic entry.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-06