Do third country inspection/certification bodies have to comply with the requirements of EN45011 or ISO 65 standards?
Yes. EN45011 is a European Norm which contains provisions relating to the structure of control bodies and requires, for example, that their certification decisions shall be free of influence from commercial considerations. As a consequence, and in order to achieve a “level playing field”, all imports of produce from outside the EC for sale as organic must also be shown to be certified by bodies complying with EN45011 or its international equivalent ISO 65. Importers are therefore to provide evidence showing that such compliance exists. Defra is not able to authorise any imports involving third country inspection bodies which are unable to demonstrate compliance to EN 45011/ISO 65.
