The new EU Organic Regulation (EU) 2018/848 has fundamentally changed the landscape for international organic production and trade. For producers outside the European Union, the shift from the principle of "equivalence" to the new "compliance regime" brings new rules, challenges and rigorous control requirements.

The "Guidance on production, preparation, and export of organic plant products into the European Union for Operators and Groups of Operators in non-EU countries" provides a unique tool to help navigate the new rules. This document is the first of its kind to condense the extensive regulatory framework as applicable for production outside the EU into a structured and accessible format, specifically for production in low- and middle-income countries.

The document explains the legal requirements that farms, processors, and exporters must fulfil to obtain and maintain certification under the new EU regime for imports and focuses exclusively on organic plant products to reduce complexity.

The document guides through the entire process – from field production to export. It summarises the applicable legal requirements in a simplified manner with references to the applicable legal sections for further details, covering all key areas:

• Overview on the new import system, explaining the certification process for individual operators and groups of operators under the new compliance regime.
• Groups of operators: Specific requirements for producer groups, including the new rules for Internal Control Systems (ICS).
• On-farm requirements: From seeds and soil fertility to precautionary measures against contamination.
• Processing and export: Rules for storage, packaging, labelling, and export to the EU.

The guidance was commissioned by the network "Committee Linking Entrepreneurship – Agriculture – Development" (COLEAD) under the EU-funded AGRINFO programme and was implemented in collaboration with FiBL.

The guidance explains the EU organic requirements as currently valid. In December 2025, the European Commission proposed to amend the Organic Regulation with regard to a few targeted issues, including simplifying the rules for groups of operators, see link below. The outcome and timeframe for of the regulatory update is not yet known.

Florentine Meinshausen

• agrinfo.eu: Link to the guidance
• agrinfo.eu: News about planned simplification of the EU Regulation
• fibl.org: News article "Impacts of the new EU Organic Regulation 2018/848"
• orgprints.org: Case study on the implications for low- and middle-income countries of Organic Regulation (EU) 2018/848 in the Dominican Republic