Updates regarding the new EU organic regulation

When is the new organic regulation in place ?

The application of the new regulation (RUE n°2018/848) will be in January 1, 2022 in the EU, and no later than December 31, 2023 outside the EU.

What are the key changes ?

• A widening of the range of products eligible for organic certification

New products will be able to be certified organic, including essential oils not intended for human consumption, natural gums and resins, cotton, wool and raw hides, beeswax, but also silkworm cocoons and salt when the production rules will be available.

• Some changes in the rules of production and processing For crop production:

Details on the origin of the seeds and seedlings used have been provided.  In addition, farms will be obliged to grow legumes, for their role on soil fertility. Moreover, derogation for perennial crops in situation of mixity, as well as retroactive recognition conditions are stricter than in the current Regulation.

For animal production:

The most notable changes concern strengthening of feed autonomy, and the reduction of in-conversion feed percentage not coming from the farm. 

Moreover, on poultry and herbivores rearing conditions, there is greater consideration for animal welfare in the layout of buildings and outdoor spaces.  There are also restrictions on the feeding and purchase of non-organic pullets.  Some new regulatory requirements concerning  beekeeping have also been published. 

Food processing:

The major change concerns the manufacture and use of flavourings. Under the current Regulation, all natural flavours are allowed. Under the new Regulation, only natural flavourings whose source is 95% unique will be allowed (e.g. "natural vanilla flavouring" is allowed, which means that the flavouring is at least 95% obtained from vanilla). 

Moreover, some changes have been published regarding the positive list of usable additives, processing aids, and non-organic agricultural ingredients. 

Finally, a positive list of cleaning substances will be published.

• Labelling

Greater flexibility on the origin of products is granted: products with the indication "EU Agriculture" will be allowed to contain 5% non-EU ingredients, instead of 2% as according to the current Regulation.

• Trading IMPORT There will be 2 options to export an organic product to the EU: 

1. Trade agreement guaranteeing the equivalence of the non-EU country's organic specification with the EU organic regulation.
2. Compliance with EU regulation 2018/848. In this case the rules will therefore be exactly the same for a producer inside or outside the EU. This means that third-country CB organic standards (e.g. "EOS" - "Ecocert Organic Standard") will no longer apply and will be replaced by compliance with the new regulation.

Further changes will be made to the new regulation and secondary acts are expected to be out soon, stay tuned.

To find out the latestdetails about this new regulation, please follow the links below  the European Commission's website