Control Union Certification Withdrawal
Please read if you source product certified by Control Union
The European Commission has confirmed that the certification body Control Union will be suspended from certification activities in the following countries from 9th April 2019:
Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
This means that Control Union may continue to endorse certificates of inspection (COI) for product they certify in the countries listed above, up to and including 8th April. After that date, Control Union cannot endorse further COIs and product certified in those countries by Control Union after that date cannot enter the EU.
Product certified by Control Union may still enter the EU and UK after 8th April, provided it is accompanied by a COI that was endorsed by Control Union before 9th April. Companies certified by Control Union in those countries will have to seek certification with another certification body, or will not be able to export product to the EU, after 8th April. A copy of the legislation can be found on the EU website (page 2 and 5)
Please note that additional controls are already in effect for product imported Kazakhstan, Moldova and Russia, and these requirements will remain in force. Please see the related article for details of these controls.
Action you need to take:
- If you import product affected by this change, we recommend you contact you supplier to find out what action they are taking
- Ensure a valid COI is available for the product
- For imports after 8th April, ensure your supplier has a valid certificate from a new certification body and a COI has been issued
- For products imported from Kazakhstan, Moldova or Russia, please ensure the necessary additional documents and testing are available as described in the link above
Products imported without a valid COI, or without meeting the additional controls (for products from Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia), will not be permitted to be sold with reference to organic in the UK or EU.
If you have any queries regarding this, please contact your Certification Officer.