Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/39

of 10 January 2019

amending Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 laying down detailed rules for implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 as regards the arrangements for imports of organic products from third countries

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/911, and in particular Article 33(2) and (3) and Article 38(d) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)
Annex III to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1235/20082 sets out the list of third countries whose systems of production and control measures for organic production of agricultural products are recognised as equivalent to those laid down in Regulation (EC) No 834/2007.
(2)

According to information provided by Australia, the name and the internet address of its competent authority have changed.

(3)

According to information provided by Canada, the internet addresses of the control bodies ‘Oregon Tilth Incorporated’ and ‘TransCanada Organic Certification Services’ have changed. Furthermore, the recognition of the control body ‘Organic Certifiers’ has been withdrawn.

(4)

According to information provided by India, the name of its competent authority has changed.

(5)

According to information provided by Japan, the recognition of the control bodies ‘Japan Eco-system Farming Association’ and ‘The Mushroom Research Institute of Japan’ have been withdrawn.

(6)

According to information provided by New Zealand, the name of the control body ‘BioGro New Zealand’ and the internet addresses of all control bodies have changed.

(7)

According to information provided by the Republic of Korea, the internet addresses of the control bodies ‘Jeonnam bioindustry foundation’ and ‘Green Environmentally- Friendly certification center’ have changed. Furthermore, the recognition of the control body ‘Controlunion’ has been withdrawn.

(8)

According to information provided by Switzerland, the name and the internet address of the control body ‘IMOswiss AG’ have changed.

(9)

Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 sets out the list of control authorities and control bodies competent to carry out controls and issue certificates in third countries for the purpose of equivalence.

(10)

The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Agricert- Certificação de Produtos Alimentares lda’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, the Commission has concluded that it is justified to extend the geographical scope of its recognition for product categories A and D to Egypt, Guinea and Mozambique.

(11)

The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Albinspekt’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, the Commission has concluded that it is justified to extend the geographical scope of its recognition for product categories A, B and D to Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia, and for product category B to Iran, Kazakhstan Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine.

(12)

The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Bioagricert- S.r.l’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, the Commission has concluded that it is justified to extend the geographical scope of its recognition for product categories A, D and E to Kazakhstan, for product category B to French Polynesia and for product categories A and D to the Philippines.

(13)

The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Bio.inspecta AG’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, the Commission has concluded that it is justified to extend the geographical scope of its recognition for product categories A and D to Algeria, Cambodia, Chad and Tunisia.

(14)

On 6 September 2018, IOAS an accreditation body in the field of organic production, informed the Commission of its decision to withdraw the accreditation of ‘Bolicert Ltd’ due to the failure of that control body to resolve non-compliances within the maximum number of submission periods allowed under IOAS' assessment procedure. Furthermore, the audit carried out by the Commission at ‘Bolicert Ltd’ in Bolivia in May 2017 revealed shortcomings in the organic production standard and control measures. In view of this situation, the Commission requested ‘Bolicert Ltd’ to provide a valid accreditation certificate and to take adequate measures to address the shortcomings. Taking into account that ‘Bolicert Ltd’ failed to take appropriate and timely remedial action to address the shortcomings and to provide the Commission with a valid accreditation certificate, the Commission has decided, in accordance with Article 12(2)(d), (e) and (f) of Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008, to withdrawn ‘Bolicert Ltd’ from the list of control bodies and control authorities for the purpose of equivalence.

(15)

The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Ecocert SA’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, the Commission has concluded that it is justified to extend the geographical scope of its recognition for product categories A and D to Lebanon, for product category B to Haiti, Moldova and Tanzania, for product category E to Sri Lanka and for product category F to Kenya. In addition, it appears that its recognition for product category C needs to be withdrawn in respect of Brunei, Chile, China, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Honduras, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Morocco, Monaco, Madagascar, Mozambique, Peru, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the United States and Vietnam.

(16)
The Commission requested ‘Ekoagros’ to provide additional information on the activities covered in their annual report in accordance with Article 12(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008. In particular, ‘Ekoagros’ was requested to provide information on how the non-conformities of the operators taken over from other control bodies in Ukraine have been addressed in accordance with Article 92 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/20083. Moreover, Ekoagros was asked to explain how the additional controls for certain products originating in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Russia have been implemented. ‘Ekoagros’ failed to provide satisfactory replies to the Commission. Therefore, the entry of ‘Ekoagros’ for Ukraine in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 should be suspended until satisfactory information is provided.
(17)

The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘IBD Certificações Ltda’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, the Commission has concluded that it is justified to extend the geographical scope of its recognition for product categories A, D and E to Russia and to withdraw its recognition for product category C for Brazil.

(18)

The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Letis S.A’ to change its address and to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, the Commission has concluded that it is justified to extend the geographical scope of its recognition for product category A to Uzbekistan, for product categories A and D to Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates, for product categories B and C to Costa Rica, and for product categories A, B, C and D to Belize, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador.

(19)

The Commission has received a request from ‘Oregon Tilth’ to withdraw its recognition for China.

(20)

The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Organic Control System’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, the Commission has concluded that it is justified to extend the geographical scope of its recognition for product categories A, D and E to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

(21)

The Commission has received a request from ‘ORSER’ to withdraw its recognition for Nepal.

(22)

‘Soil Association Certification Limited’ has notified the Commission of the change of its address.

(23)

Annexes III and IV to Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(24)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on organic production,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 is amended as follows:

  1. (1)

    Annex III is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation;

  2. (2)

    Annex IV is amended in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 10 January 2019.

For the Commission

The President

Jean-Claude Juncker

ANNEX I

Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 is amended as follows:

  1. (1)

    in the entry relating to Australia, point 4 is replaced by the following:

    ‘4.Competent authority: Department of Agriculture and Water Resources,

    http://www.agriculture.gov.au/export/controlled-goods/organic-bio-dynamic’;

  2. (2)

    in the entry relating to Canada, point 5 is amended as follows:

    1. (a)

      the rows relating to code numbers CA-ORG-011 and CA-ORG-021 are replaced by the following:

      ‘CA-ORG-011

      Oregon Tilth Incorporated (OTCO)

      http://www.tilth.org

      CA-ORG-021

      TransCanada Organic Certification Services (TCO Cert)

      http://www.tcocert.ca/contacts/’

    2. (b)

      the row relating to code number CA-ORG-012 is deleted;

  3. (3)

    in the entry relating to India, point 4 is replaced by the following:

    ‘4.

    Competent authority: Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority APEDA, http://www.apeda.gov.in/apedawebsite/index.asp’;

  4. (4)

    in the entry relating to Japan, the rows relating to JP-BIO-019 and JP-BIO-33 are deleted;

  5. (5)

    in the entry relating to New Zealand, point 5 is replaced by the following:

    ‘5.Control bodies:

    NZ-BIO-001

    Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI)

    http://www.mpi.govt.nz/exporting/food/organics/

    NZ-BIO-002

    AsureQuality Limited

    https://www.asurequality.com

    NZ-BIO-003

    BioGro New Zealand Limited

    https://www.biogro.co.nz’

  6. (6)

    in the entry relating to the Republic of Korea, point 5 is amended as follows:

    1. (a)

      the rows relating to code numbers KR-ORG-017 and KR-ORG-020 are replaced by the following:

      ‘KR-ORG-017

      Jeonnam bioindustry foundation

      www.jbf.kr

      KR-ORG-020

      Green Environmentally-Friendly certification center

      http://cafe.naver.com/greenorganic6279’

    2. (b)

      the row relating to code number KR-ORG-018 is deleted;

  7. (7)

    in the entry relating to Switzerland, in point 5, the row relating to code number CH-BIO-004 is replaced by the following:

    ‘CH-BIO-004

    Ecocert IMOswiss AG

    http://www.ecocert-imo.ch’

ANNEX II

Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 is amended as follows:

  1. (1)

    in the entry relating to ‘Agricert — Certificação de Produtos Alimentares lda’, in point 3, the following rows are inserted in the order of the code numbers:

    ‘EG-BIO-172

    Egypt

    x

    —

    —

    x

    —

    —

    GN-BIO-172

    Guinea

    x

    —

    —

    x

    —

    —

    MZ-BIO-172

    Mozambique

    x

    —

    —

    x

    —

    —’

  2. (2)

    in the entry relating to ‘Albinspekt’, in point 3, the following rows are inserted in the order of the code numbers:

    ‘AM-BIO-139

    Armenia

    x

    x

    —

    x

    —

    —

    BA-BIO-139

    Bosnia and Herzegovina

    x

    x

    —

    x

    —

    —

    IR-BIO-139

    Iran

    —

    x

    —

    —

    —

    —

    KZ-BIO-139

    Kazakhstan

    —

    x

    —

    —

    —

    —

    MD-BIO-139

    Moldova

    —

    x

    —

    —

    —

    —

    ME-BIO-139

    Montenegro

    x

    x

    —

    x

    —

    —

    MK-BIO-139

    the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

    x

    x

    —

    x

    —

    —

    RS-BIO-139

    Serbia

    x

    x

    —

    x

    —

    —

    TR-BIO-139

    Turkey

    —

    x

    —

    —

    —

    —

    UA-BIO-139

    Ukraine

    —

    x

    —

    —

    —

    —’

  3. (3)

    in the entry relating to ‘Bioagricert S.r.l.’, point 3 is amended as follows:

    1. (a)

      the following rows are inserted in the order of the code numbers:

      ‘KZ-BIO-132

      Kazakhstan

      x

      —

      —

      x

      x

      —

      PH-BIO-132

      Philippines

      x

      —

      —

      x

      —

      —’

    2. (b)

      in the row relating to French Polynesia, a cross is added in column B;

  4. (4)

    in the entry relating to ‘Bio.inspecta AG’, in point 3, the following rows are inserted in the order of the code numbers:

    ‘DZ-BIO-161

    Algeria

    x

    —

    —

    x

    —

    —

    KH-BIO-161

    Cambodia

    x

    —

    —

    x

    —

    —

    TD-BIO-161

    Chad

    x

    —

    —

    x

    —

    —

    TN-BIO-161

    Tunisia

    x

    —

    —

    x

    —

    —’

  5. (5)

    the entry relating to ‘Bolicert Ltd’ is deleted;

  6. (6)

    in the entry relating to ‘Ecocert SA’, point 3 is amended as follows:

    1. (a)

      the following row is inserted in the order of the code numbers:

      ‘LB-BIO-154

      Lebanon

      x

      —

      —

      x

      —

      —’

    2. (b)

      in the rows relating to Haiti, Moldova and Tanzania, a cross is added in column B;

    3. (c)

      in the rows relating to Chile, China, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Honduras, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Morocco, Monaco, Madagascar, Mozambique, Peru, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and Vietnam, the cross in column C is deleted;

    4. (d)

      in the row relating to Sri Lanka, a cross is added in column E;

    5. (e)

      in the row relating to Kenya, a cross is added in column F;

    6. (f)

      the rows relating to Brunei and the United States are deleted;

  7. (7)

    in the entry relating to ‘Ekoagros’, in point 3, the row relating to Ukraine is deleted;

  8. (8)

    in the entry relating to ‘IBD Certificações Ltda’, point 3 is amended as follows:

    1. (a)

      the following row is inserted in the order of the code numbers

      ‘RU-BIO-122

      Russia

      x

      —

      —

      x

      x

      —’

    2. (b)

      in the row relating to Brazil, the cross in column C is deleted;

  9. (9)

    the entry relating to ‘Letis SA’ is amended as follows:

    1. (a)

      point 1 is replaced by the following:

      ‘1.

      Address: Urquiza 1285 planta alta, Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina’;

    2. (b)

      in point 3, the following rows are inserted in the order of the code numbers:

      ‘AZ-BIO-135

      Azerbaijan

      x

      —

      —

      x

      —

      —

      BY-BIO-135

      Belarus

      x

      —

      —

      x

      —

      —

      BZ-BIO-135

      Belize

      x

      x

      x

      x

      —

      —

      BR-BIO-135

      Brazil

      x

      x

      x

      x

      —

      —

      CI-BIO-135

      Côte d'Ivoire

      x

      —

      —

      x

      —

      —

      CO-BIO-135

      Colombia

      x

      x

      x

      x

      —

      —

      CR-BIO-135

      Costa Rica

      —

      x

      x

      —

      —

      —

      DO-BIO-135

      Dominican Republic

      x

      x

      x

      x

      —

      —

      EG-BIO-135

      Egypt

      x

      —

      —

      x

      —

      —

      GT-BIO-135

      Guatemala

      x

      x

      x

      x

      —

      —

      HN-BIO-135

      Honduras

      x

      x

      x

      x

      —

      —

      KG-BIO-135

      Kyrgyzstan

      x

      —

      —

      x

      —

      —

      MA-BIO-135

      Morocco

      x

      —

      —

      x

      —

      —

      PA-BIO-135

      Panama

      x

      x

      x

      x

      —

      —

      SV-BIO-135

      El Salvador

      x

      x

      x

      x

      —

      —

      TM-BIO-135

      Turkmenistan

      x

      —

      —

      x

      —

      —

      AE-BIO-135

      United Arab Emirates

      x

      —

      —

      x

      —

      —

      VN-BIO-135

      Uzbekistan

      x

      —

      —

      —

      —

      —’

  10. (10)

    in the entry relating to ‘Oregon Tilth’, in point 3, the row relating to China is deleted;

  11. (11)

    in the entry relating to ‘Organic Control System’, in point 3, the following row is inserted in the order of the code numbers

    ‘MK-BIO-162

    the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

    x

    —

    —

    x

    x

    —’

  12. (12)

    in the entry relating to ‘ORSER’, the row relating to Nepal is deleted;

  13. (13)

    in the entry relating to ‘Soil Association Certification Limited’, point 1 is replaced by the following:

    ‘1.

    Address: Spear House 51 Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6AD, United Kingdom’.