Importing Organic Products

Border controls are in place to check that organic products imported into Great Britian are compliant with organic production standards. 

Checks are carried out at the border by Port Health and the policy is managed by the Defra Organic Farming Branch.

Importers of consignments of organic food and feed products must submit the required documentation to Port Health for checking prior to importation.

• Unprocessed plant products
• Live animals or unprocessed animal products (includes honey)
• Aquaculture products and seaweeds
• Processed agricultural products for use as food
• Processed agricultural products for use as feed
• Seeds and propagating material

Processed non-food/feed items for use as cosmetics or textiles are not covered by the organic regulations.

Organic registration

Any business importing organic products into Great Britain must be established in GB. They must also be registered and certified by an approved UK control body – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/organic-food-uk-approved-control-bodies . The requirement to be certified by an approved UK control body applies to both the importer and first consignee.

In addition, the importer will have a list of products they are certified to import on their licence.

Pre-notification of import

Importers of organic produce are required by GB legislation to give advance notice of the arrival of an organic import. Minimum notification periods are:

• At least 24 hours in advance for consignments arriving by container ship
• At least six hours for consignments arriving by ferry (RoRo)

Pre-notification – documents required

We use a fully electronic process from start to finish for Importing Organic Products. The pre-notification form is available on our system called PHILIS DES.

When submitting a pre-notification use the facility within PHILIS DES to upload the below required documents:

• A PDF of the COI;
• Copy commercial documents - bill of lading, invoice and packing list;
• The full email chain sent from the issuing control body to the destination address/importer. This is used to prove that the COI was issued by them.

Notification and endorsement of all organic consignments must be made by completing a Certificate of Inspection (COI)

Organic products imported into Great Britain from a third country require a GB COI.

The blank model of the CoI for imports into Great Britain, which must be used for COIs issued from 1 September 2023 onwards, can be found here.

SCPHA notes on completing the GB CoI can be found here.

The Certificate of Inspection (COI) is issued by the control authority or the control body. The PDF version of the COI and copies of the commercial documents are submitted to Port Health by being uploaded to PHILIS DES for validation.

The Port Health electronically endorsed COI will be emailed to the agent responsible following completion of our checks. This must be forwarded to the consignee’s premises (stated in Box 12 of the COI) where it must be kept for two years. This Port Health endorsed COI will form part of the Control Body’s annual inspection of the importer.

If you import organic foods and feedstuffs into Great Britain you must follow GB rules.

Organic products imported into Great Britain from the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland do not currently need a GB certificate of inspection (COI).

Documentary Check

All organic imports are subject to a documentary check – an assessment of the COI is conducted to ensure that it is valid for the consignment being imported. It is intended to ensure that fraudulent activity does not take place with regard to the importation of organic goods.

All organic imports require a COI for each consignment, which must be submitted to and endorsed by the Port Health Authority prior to being released into free circulation.

Port Health requires submission of the COI that has been endorsed by the issuing body (Box 18) prior to the consignment leaving the third country. A bill of lading showing the ‘shipped on board’ date will also need to be provided. The PDF COI must be emailed by the issuing control body to the destination address/GB importer. This full email chain should be uploaded to the PHILIS DES notification.

It is essential that Port Health can confirm the PDF COI originated from the issuing control body.

Identity Check

An identity check is not normally carried out unless there is any question over the link between the documentation and the consignment.

Physical Check

Physical checks are not normally carried out.

However, if sampling is required the product will be sent for analysis for pesticides.

Sampling usually incurs additional charges to cover officer time taking the sample, transportation of the sample to the laboratory and sample analysis.

The officer sampling charge and the courier charge for transport are the same as those listed under ‘High Risk Products – CHED-D Charges’.

Satisfactory checks

On satisfactory completion of the checks, consignments will be released for free circulation into Great Britain.

The completed COI will be verified and electronically endorsed by Port Health. Port Health will email a PDF of the electronically endorsed COI to the agent or company responsible for the load and paying the charges.

The Port Health endorsed COI may then be used as evidence that the checks have been satisfactorily completed.

Note: there is a further stage of COI completion by the first consignee following clearance at the point of entry. The first consignee declaration must be completed when the Port Health endorsed COI is received.

Unsatisfactory Checks

Products failing to satisfy organic import conditions may be:

• re-exported to a country outside of Great Britain or
• destroyed or
• Relabelled under the supervision of Trading Standards to remove all organic references. This depends on the importer (or other person responsible for the load) contacting Trading Standards to obtain permission to move the consignment into their district and securing agreement that Trading Standards will supervise the relabelling. The responsibility for arranging this lies with the person responsible for the load; SCPHA will not contact Trading Standards or make these arrangements on their behalf.

Smuggled Imports

Port Health will check manifest information and commercial documentation to ensure that checks are carried out. Inland Trading Standards Officers for the Local Authority are responsible for checks at retail sale.

Fees are payable for checking documentation and examination or sampling consignments should it prove necessary.

All fees must be paid prior to release.

Please see our schedule of charges.

Defra have produced the following guidelines:

• Guidance: Importing organic products into Great Britain
• FAQS: Importing organic produce into Great Britain
• GB Certificate of Inspection (COI) explanatory notes
• Importing organic food to the UK
• Organic food: labelling and advertising rules