The European Union market for Organic products is protected by European Regulations. There are complementary application measures on a regional Belgian level.
There are also national and private specifications which cover areas not covered by European Regulation.
Hot news
- BIO Import: Important Change Starting January 1, 2025!
As of 1/1/2025, certification bodies outside the European Union must be recognized for their “compliance” with the new European regulation. The old system, in which certification bodies were recognized based on “equivalence”, will end on 31/12/2024.
Make sure everything is in order with your foreign suppliers and pay close attention to the compliance of the products you import. Check whether the certification bodies are listed under “compliance” in annex II of Regulation 2021/1378
Official regulations
Find out here how to consult an official Regulation on the Eur-Lex website
Regulation (EU) n°2018/848 consolidated version
This regulation will replace basic regulation 834/2007 from 1 January 2022 according to Regulation n°2021/269.
It covers the principles and basic rules for agriculture, preparing foodstuffs and organic animal feed, distribution and imports as well as labelling and controls.
Click here for the List of secundary acts (implementing and delegated acts related to RE 2018/848)
Organic products from an exporter in a third country (a country outside the European Union) can be sold, labelled, and presented as organic within the European Economic Area, provided they have been imported into the EU under one of the following four import regimes:
1.Compliance Regime (Article 46 of R. 2018/848)
- The list of certifying bodies recognized for compliance is available via this link (R. 2021/1378 – latest consolidated version).
2.Special Agreement Regime (Article 47 of R. 2018/848)
- The list of countries covered by this special agreement is available via this link: Agreements on trade in organic products – European Commission.
3.Equivalence Regime by Control Body (Article 57 of R. 2018/848)
- The list of certifying bodies recognized for equivalence is available in Annex 2 of R. 2021/2325 (latest consolidated version).
- This system will no longer be valid after December 31, 2024.
4.Equivalence Regime by Third Country (Article 48 of R. 2018/848)
- The list of third countries recognized for equivalence is available in Annex 1 of R. 2021/2325 (latest consolidated version).
- This system will remain valid until December 31, 2026.
You can consult the list of control bodies and/or authorities certified by the European Commission within the European Union.
Wallonia
- Ministerial Orders issued by the Walloon government
- Ministerial Order of the Walloon Government regarding the production and labelling of organic products of 11/02/2010.
- Ministerial Order of the Walloon Government regarding support for organic agriculture of 3/09/2015.
- Ministerial Order of the Walloon Government of 3/09/2015 in modification of the Order of 3/04/2014 regarding the allocation of organic subsidies
- Ministerial Order of the Walloon Government for the approval of the “Catering” organic guarantee specifications of 26/06/2012.
- Ministerial Order of the Walloon Government for the approval of the “Pet food” organic guarantee specifications of 15/04/2015.
SPW notes
- List of slow-growing strains (9/07/2008)
- Procedures for mobile chicken coops (15/04/2019)
- Use of non-organic strawberry plants (6/2/2014)
- Definition of the term “factory farming” for the use of conventional effluents (22/1/2009)
- Regional origin of foods for animals (22/06/2012)
Find information about organic agriculture in Wallonia on the SPW Agriculture site.
Brussels
- Order of the Brussels-Capital Region Government regarding the production and labelling of organic products of 3/12/2009.
- Order of the Brussels-Capital Region Government of 5/06/2013 in approval of the “catering” specifications (Organic Guarantee)
Flanders
Find information about Flemish organic agriculture on the Flemish authorities’ website.
CERTISYS is approved in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (LU-BIO-06) and can help you certify your products
- Grand Duchy Regulation
- Information about organic agriculture in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (in German)
Find out about the official processes and procedures for launching your organic activities in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg here.
Version 8 of the CERTISYS Standard has applied since November 2023.
This standard exposes the objectives and principles, production rules, labelling provisions and control measures for non-EU operators who intend to export products advertised as organic to one of the European Union Member States. Any agricultural product produced, transformed or exported to an EU Member State and certified in accordance with this standard will be considered to be equivalent to the European regulation.
This standard contains two books. Book 1 covers general rules. Book 2 covers specific rules:
