Guidance

Importing organic food, feed and seed to the UK

Find out the requirements for importing organic products and when you need a certificate of inspection (COI).

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 20 April 2023
• Last updated: 4 September 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 4 September 2026

     Removed information about needing a certificate of inspection (COI) to import organic food from the EU, EEA and Switzerland from 1 February 2027. The COI waiver has been extended.

  2. 13 August 2025

     Simplified guidance on certificates of inspection (COIs) and clarified that these are issued by the exporter’s control body in the country of export. Clarified that businesses importing food, feed and seed into NI (including farms importing feed or seed for their own animals) must get a European Union COI for each consignment through TRACES NT. Added links to other guidance on labelling and importing rules that you must follow when importing organic products.

  3. 13 September 2024

     Updated to reflect that from 1 February 2027, you will need a certificate of inspection to import organic food from the EU, EEA and Switzerland to Great Britain.

  4. 31 January 2024

     Removed prompt about preparing for new import controls on 31 January 2024.

  5. 5 January 2024

     A prompt has been added to prepare for new import controls which begin on 31 January 2024.

  6. 28 September 2023

     Updated to reflect that from 1 February 2025, you will need a certificate of inspection to import organic food from the EU, EEA and Switzerland to Great Britain.

  7. 20 April 2023

     First published.

To import organic products to the UK:

• your company must be based in the UK
• an approved UK control body must certify your business to import organic products

You must also meet these requirements if you are a ‘first consignee’. This means the first person to receive the imported food.

You must also follow the labelling and advertising rules and the general importing rules for your product. Find guidance on:

• importing animal products
• importing plants from EU countries
• importing plants from non-EU countries

Importing from the EU to Great Britain and Northern Ireland

You do not currently need a certificate of inspection (COI) to import organic food to Great Britain and Northern Ireland from:

• EU countries
• EEA countries (EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein)
• Switzerland

Importing from outside the EU to Great Britain

To import organic food from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland into Great Britain, you must:

• get a Great Britain COI for each consignment (even if you’re importing a product or sample that is not intended for sale)
• check that your exporter’s control body and country or territory of export are on the non-UK organic registers

The COI is issued by the exporter’s control body in the country of export.

A consignment is a batch of products that is shipped and handled as one unit. For example, this could be:

• a container of peas from Kenya
• 200 tonnes of wheat and 150 tonnes of barley from Canada, shipped on the same boat and handled by the same operator

Importing from outside the EU to Northern Ireland

To import organic food from outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland to Northern Ireland, you must:

• check with your control body that the organic food can be imported into Northern Ireland
• register and be approved as an importer by your control body on the EU’s Trade Control and Expert System New Technology (TRACES NT)
• get a European Union COI for each consignment through TRACES NT (this applies to businesses importing food, feed and seed into NI, including farms importing feed or seed for their own animals)

Get help

Contact your approved UK organic control body if you have any questions about these rules or which products you can import.