Two new regulations of 13 July 2021, taken in application of EU Regulation n°2018/848, set new rules for recognising control authorities and control of organic operators and products in third countries.

Regulation EU No 2021/1697 of 13 July 2021 amends Regulation EU No 2018/848 as regards the rules for the recognition of control authorities and the withdrawal of their recognition. It adds additional criteria for the recognition of supervisory authorities and lists the cases in which the European Commission may withdraw the recognition of a supervisory authority for a third country or for a category of products.


EU Regulation 2021/1698 of 13 July 2021 also complements EU Regulation 2018/848 of 30 May 2018. This regulation provides procedural rules for the recognition of control authorities of operators and certified organic products in third countries.
It lays down rules for the control of operators and groups of operators by control authorities and control bodies. In order to recognise an inspection body in a third country, there must be control of the certification, methods and techniques used, sampling, methods used for sampling and selection of laboratories for analysis of samples, documented inspection procedures, written records of the inspections, checks of consignments for import into the EU.
Control authorities are required to maintain a list of operators and relevant information. This list must be regularly updated and publicly available on the control authority's website.
The inspection body must also use the Organic Farming Information System (OFIS). This information system allows for the exchange of information, in particular with the European Commission and the control authorities of member and third countries. The system allows for the immediate sharing of information on organic products, especially in the case of non-compliance information.

The provisions of EU Regulation 2021/1697 of 13 July 2021 and EU Regulation 2021/1698 of 13 July 2021 are applicable from 1 January 2022.