Exporting from GB into non-EU

Before you export to non-EU countries please ensure that you are able to export your products. The scope of the trade deals/equivalence arrangements differ from country to country.

We have included details below for countries where we are aware of export requirements. There may be other countries that require export/import certificates or have labelling requirements. We advise you check with the component authority in the export market or with your importer.

Our Certificate of Inspection (COI) team may also be able to provide further information - get in touch at coi@soilassociation.org.

We advise checking with the organic authority in the export market whether labels/certification will be accepted.

A valid and original Export Certificate may be required to accompany exported organic product leaving GB to countries outside the EU except Canada, South Korea and US who have their own form. For more info see below:

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Exports to Switzerland

The UK and Switzerland have a trade agreement. For exporting to Switzerland this is limited to organic products that have been either:

• produced, (grown or reared), within the UK
• processed within the UK
• imported and further processed, within the UK

 

Eligible products

Crops, wild harvested crops, livestock and processed food and feed products, vegetative propagating materials and seeds for cultivation.

Products not eligible for export under the agreement

• Aquatic animals (e.g. fish, shellfish)
• Rabbits and processed products containing ingredients from rabbits.

 

Export documents

All exports must be issued with a Certificate of Inspection (COI) issued by the exporters certification body prior to the consignment leaving GB. Although Switzerland is not an EU member they use the EU TRACES NT system for COIs. Please refer to our exporting to the EU page for details of the TRACES system.

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Exports to South Korea from GB

The UK and RoK have an equivalency arrangement in place for organics until the 31st December 2024.

Only processed food products that contain at least 95% organic ingredients can be exported to RoK. Processed food products must be certified in accordance with UK regulations and the scope of the processing must follow RoK domestic standards. All exports to South Korea will need to complete a NAQS document that will be transferred to the e-NAQS system by the COI team.

For more information on what the Korean Food Code defines as processed, please get in touch with our COI team at coi@soilassociation.org.

RoK will not accept the EU logo for products packed in GB.

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Exports to US from UK

The USA has its own organic standards known as the National Organic Program (NOP). The US and the UK have an organic equivalence arrangement. This is limited to organic products that have been either:

• produced, (grown or reared), within the UK
• processed within the UK
• imported and packed, or further processed, within the UK

Note: This also applies to exports to Puerto Rica and the export documents detailed below must also be used.

Pre-purchasing credits

You will need to pre-purchase credits via our payment portal prior to submitting your NOP request form. Failure to do so will mean our team will not be able to complete the endorsement process. 

The pre-paid number of credits will then be added to your SA Certification account. We will then deduct a pre-bought credit per consignment as you may have several certificates per consignment.

Eligible products

Crops, wild harvested crops, livestock and processed products.

Products not eligible for export under the agreement

• Agricultural products derived from animals treated with antibiotics.
• Aquatic animals (e.g. fish, shellfish)

 

Exporting products with ingredients derived from livestock

If you wish to export livestock products, or processed products containing livestock ingredients we will need to verify that the livestock have been reared without the use of antibiotics.

See our guide to certification for livestock.

Exporting aquatic animals (e.g. fish, shellfish)

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)< have confirmed that aquaculture animal products that are certified organic under another government’s organic regulations may be sold as organic in the USA. This means that aquaculture animal products certified to the GB organic regulation for aquaculture production may be exported to the USA, even though they are outside of the scope of UK-US equivalence agreement. These products must not use the NOP logo or refer to USDA organic certification. These products do not require an NOP Import Certificate.

Wine

Wine must be produced and labelled according to the USDA NOP regulations.

Labelling

You must ensure labelling meets the requirements of the USDA NOP standards. Product may display the USDA organic seal. You can view our labelling guidelines for exporting product to the USA at the bottom of this page.

You can find more information on the agreement on the U.S. Department of Agriculture website.

Export documents

All exports must have a valid National Organic Programme import certificate (NOPs) issued prior to the consignment leaving the UK. The NOPs are registered in the Integrity Database by the exporters certification body. For SA Certification licensees this is done by our Import/Export team.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has implemented a new digital platform for certifying bodies issuing National Organic Programme import certificates (NOPs). The platform is called the Global Organic Integrity database (GLOBAL). This new system also requires the importer in the USA to be licensed under the National Organic Program (NOP).

Each SA Certification licensed exporter must be registered on the Integrity database. Our Import/Export team will complete this process on your behalf. Please complete the NOP in scope product list form and email to coi@soilassociation.org so we can begin registration prior to exporting.

Your importer in the US must be registered as an organic importer with a USDA approved certifying body and be listed on the Integrity platform from 19th September 2024. Any importer not listed on Integrity prior to this date may be investigated by the USDA for compliance.

The information for each consignment must also be entered into the Global Organic Integrity database by our Import/Export team who deal with issuing all export certificates. For each consignment that you wish to export complete this form and email to coi@soilassociation.org. The team will then verify the products, issue them on the Global Organic Integrity database and provide you with a PDF of your endorsed import certificate.

Find out more information on the USDA Organic Integrity Database here and learn more about how exporters to the US can comply with the SOE rule by downloading guidance from the OTA here.

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Exports to Canada from UK

Canada and the UK and have organic equivalency arrangement. This is limited to organic products that have been either:

• produced, (grown or reared), within the UK
• processed with the UK
• imported and further processed within the UK

 

Eligible products

Crops, wild harvested crops, livestock and processed products (food and feed), wine, seed, seaweed, vegetative propagating material.

Products not eligible for export under the agreement

Aquaculture products, (with the exception of seaweed products) are not covered by the equivalence agreement.

To enable export of aquaculture products we offer certification to the Canadian Organic Regime (COR). Read our COR guide to certification.

Labelling

You must ensure labelling meets all Canadian organic labelling requirements. Product may display the Canada organic logo. Please see our COR labelling guidance for further detail.

You can find more information on the agreement on the Canadian Organic Regime website.

Export documents

All exports must be accompanied by the exporters organic certificate and an Export Certificate for Organic Product issued prior to the consignment arriving in Canada.

Complete this form and email to coi@soilassociation.org.

The team will then verify the product and provide you with a PDF of your endorsed import certificate.

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Exports to Japan

The UK and Japan have an equivalence agreement that covers processed foods of plant origin (ingredients can be either produced in the UK, or imported and processed in the UK).

Eligible products

Processed crops & wild harvested crops, processed seaweed.

Products not eligible for export under the agreement

Unprocessed products, livestock products (including aquaculture), honey or alcohol products.

Export requirements

To export product to Japan you need an importer in Japan registered with a certification body to the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS).

Organic products sold in Japan must display the JAS Organic logo. There are two options for applying the JAS Organic logo, (also reference to as JAS Seal), under the equivalence agreement:

1. The JAS Organic logo is applied to the products by the registered importer in Japan.
2. The JAS Organic logo is applied to the products in the UK. This requires a ‘consigning contract’ between the importer and the company applying the JAS Organic logo in the UK. See details on page 25-31 Q4-7 through to Q4-12 here.

 

Labelling

Labelling must meet all Japanese organic labelling requirements (including compliant use of the JAS organic seal).

Export documents

Imports must be accompanied by the exporters organic certificate listing the exported products and an export certificate for each consignment issued prior to the consignment arriving in Japan.

Complete the form here and email to coi@soilassociation.org.

The team will then verify the product and provide you with a PDF of your endorsed export certificate.

Further details can be found on the MAFF website.

Alcohol

Since October 2022, alcohol has been covered by the scope of the Japanese organic standards and the JAS organic logo may be applied to product.

From October 2025 use of the logo on organic alcohol will be compulsory and imported product must either be certified to the JAS, or for imported under an equivalence/trade agreement.

Defra are currently working with Japan to include alcohol (and possibly livestock under the scope of the UK-Japan agreement). Until then either the JAS logo is applied by an operator certified to the  JAS standards. Alternatively, it may be labelled in accordance with the National Tax Agency’s “labelling standards for organic alcohol beverages” (without applying the JAS logo).

Please see details here and discuss with your importer in Japan the additional requirements.

JAS Certification

We can offer certification to JAS standard via our partner Ecocert. If you wish to export products not covered by the equivalence agreement, (livestock products), or you wish to have the flexibility of working with several importers, or where a Japan based importer is not willing or able to apply the JAS seal or contract its application out to third parties.

If you wish to explore this option please contact us at international@soilassociation.org.

Alternatively, you can contact Ecocert and request a quotation.

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Exports to Saudi Arabia

For Saudi Arabia all exports must be accompanied by the exporters organic certificate and an Export Certificate.

Complete this form and email to coi@soilassociation.org.

The team will then verify the product and provide you with a PDF of your endorsed export certificate.

See this guide for further details of Saudi Arabia's requirements.

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Exports to Qatar from UK

We have been informed that Qatar is now requiring a Certificate of Conformity for shipments of organic foods. A Certificate of Conformity for these foods is only issued by third parties authorized by Qatar. We have requested Defra to seek clarity from Qatari food safety authorities on further details regarding exports of organic foods. We will update this webpage once we have further details. In the meantime, we advise if you are exporting, or thinking about exporting, to Qatar you discuss with your importer in Qatar to determine what the certification and documentation requirements are prior to planning exports.

Exports to Taiwan

The UK and Taiwan have an equivalence agreement that covers processed agricultural products for use as food. This is limited to products that have been either:

This is limited to organic agricultural products that have been either:

• produced, (grown or reared) and processed within the UK
• imported and further processed within the UK

 

Eligible products

Processed crops & wild harvested crops, processed livestock products (there are some exceptions as detailed below), processed algae products.

Products not eligible for export under the agreement

Alcoholic beverages; bee products; animal products made with livestock ingredients where animals have been treated with antibiotics; products with added sodium nitrite and/or potassium nitrate;  organic yeast/ any product containing organic yeast as an ingredient. The following categories are also not recognised:

• Category A: Unprocessed plant products
• Category B: Live animals or unprocessed animal products
• Category C: Unprocessed aquaculture products and algae
• Category E: Processed agricultural products for use as feed
• Category F: Vegetative propagating material and seeds for cultivation

 

Exporting products with ingredients derived from livestock

If you wish to export processed products containing livestock ingredients, we will need to verify that the livestock have been reared without the use of antibiotics. See our guide to certification for livestock.

 Labelling

UK organic products exported to Taiwan must also not bear the EU logo or references to the EU in the statement of agriculture on the label. 

Export requirements

We are currently awaiting details from Defra of Taiwan’s export documentation requirements.

You can find an announcement of the agreement in this Defra press release.

Labelling guidelines for product exported to the USA

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Guides and example certificates related to exporting from GB in to non-EU countries

• Export to non-EU countries

  Download the certificate

• Example export certificate

  Download the certificate

• NAQS import certificate for export to Korea

  Download the certificate

• NOP import certificate

  Download the certificate

• Export certificate for Canada

  Download the certificate

• Export certificate for Saudi Arabia

  Download the certificate

• Labelling guidelines for product exported to the USA

  Download labelling guidelines