Imports from approved third countries

The EU Commission can directly approve countries where a national government has supplied a dossier to the Commission which confirms that the procedures for production, 

There are currently only five countries which have been approved by the EU Commission as having equivalent inspection and production arrangements Argentina, Australia, Hungary, Israel, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. Organic products from these countries can enter the EU if the following conditions are met  

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EU Commission evaluation and acceptance as an Approved Third Country. This was the original method that the Regulation 2092/91 envisaged for the approval of imports from outside the EU member states. However, approval requires the existence of legislation and considerable industry collaboration and resources to enable submission. This has deterred or prevented many countries from applying, so that, as of July 1998, only five... 

Organic foods produced within the EU or imported into one member state through authorised channels must be freely traded and marketed in the other member states without the need for further registration or inspection. Importing from third countries outside the EU is another matter however. The rules vary, depending on whether the food comes from an approved or non-approved third country. 

To obtain approval to import organic products from non-approved third countries is a much more complicated procedure and requires the following steps to be undertaken ... 

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