What You Asked: EU Organic Regulation & Its Impact on Smallholder Value Chains – Webinar Q&A (25 March 2025)

Q: What is exactly counted in the 5-ha limit? Does it refer to the production area or the cadastral area that includes forest areas etc.? Does it refer to the area certified or the total farm area?

A: See the IFOAM Guidance on the new EU Regulation; The rule for a member of a group of operators is to have EITHER up to 5 ha of farm holding (total agricultural land operated by the farmer) OR (in case the farm is bigger than 5 ha) an organic turnover of up to 25,000 €/ Year*.  The 5 ha refers to agricultural holding including fallow agricultural fields. Forest land does not count, unless it is used for agricultural purposes, e.g. for shrimp production in mangroves.  A farm with more than 5 ha CAN be member if its organic turnover is < 25,000 €. Since the turnover is directly linked to the area under the certified crop, this allows farms with much more than 5 ha but low organic sales to be members in groups.  

 * Simplified rule for all countries where individual farm certification is > 500€/year, i.e. all small producer group countries.

Q: What does Organic Turnover mean? Is it the revenue generated from organic sales for any organic standard? How do you calculate the organic turnover in third countries, considering that the currency is not stable— which value should be considered?

A: The organic turnover limit of 25,000 € applies for all organic products produced on the land of the member, regardless of the organic standard they are certified to.  However, only those products that are bought (and marketed) by the group as organic count for the organic turnover. Other products that are not marketed via the group of Operators' joint marketing system are not considered "organic" (even if produced organically). For example, if a farmer in a spice cooperative produces pepper and cinnamon which are marketed through the cooperative's joint marketing system and coconut and vegetables for home consumption or the local market, then only the combined organic sales of pepper and cinnamon to the cooperative count as the “organic turnover” of this farmer. Since a given farmer is e.g. certified both EU & NOP, the total amount counts, irrespective whether/how much of that product is then later sold as EU and/or NOP by the cooperative.  

Q: How can a group of operators maintain a commercial relationship with the farmers who used to be part of the group but must now be excluded due to their size? 

Can those farmers be individually certified while remaining listed in the legal entity’s incorporation document? Can they be considered as suppliers? Or can they apply for organic certification as sub-contracted farmers with a certified processing company?

A: Art 36.1 and the FAQs of the EU Commission seem to imply that individually certified members that are "too large" cannot be statutory members of a Group of Operators.  As Group of Operators can only market products of its members, it cannot buy from individually certified non-member farms. However, the new individually certified farms can be suppliers to any organic Operators. Therefore, the currently certified producer groups could consider becoming EU-organic certified as "operator" for processing & export (not as "group of operators") and set up a new legal entity of any form as a Group of Operators for just the eligible small organic farmers. See Greennet Thailand example in the FIBL presentation of the webinar as an example. This is also a suitable solution in case some members are non-organic.  Another solution chosen by some groups, if its only few farmers that are too big is either the division of farms (to be < 5ha or < 25.000€), or several larger farms associating into a larger farm operation to be certified individually as separate farm operator.  Please always consult your CB (head office if required) for guidance as the CB is taking the decision on compliance.

Q: We are a Union of cooperative and would like to know if we can certify several groups under our union? What would be the best approach for compliance? Can several groups have one common ICS?

A: Adaption for unions of cooperatives tends to be very complex and each union must carefully consider its situation and options. See the summary of options and examples in the webinar presentation. In general certification of the union as Operator and certification of each primary organisation as Group of Operators tends to be the best solution, but it requires the grower organisation primary cooperatives to have only under 2000 organic and in-conversion members, which may also require some adaptation. The legal entity of each Group of Operators must be certified but can "appoint" external ICS manager and ICS inspectors. This means that the mother organisation (union of cooperatives) can provide the ICS services. See the various examples presented in the webinar, all of which have chosen to appoint ICS staff from outside the new Group of Operator unit.

Q: Could Participatory Guarantee Systems be considered as a potential alternative, equivalent to ICS certification?

A: No, the EU organic regulation does not recognise PGS within and outside of the EU. PGS will only allow producers to sell their products locally/nationally or sometimes regionally if their neighbouring country accepts that, but it will not provide market access to the EU.

Q: Can you share the list of plant protection products that are allowed?

A: This is a very complex topic, and all producers are highly recommended to discuss their input use with their CB to ensure whether all products they use meet the new regulatory requirements as the rules changed significantly. All permitted substances for plant protection are listed in Reg 2021/1165 Annex I. However, in Third Countries, the introductory general requirements of Annex I pose significant problems, as they require general EU approval for EU-agriculture, which is not the case e.g. for local microorganism strains used in many third Countries. Annex VI of Regulation 2021/1165 is in revision with regard with the new rules specifically for Third Countries.

See COLEAD information from February 2025 on the proposed draft here.

Even with these upcoming revised rules, a remaining challenge for organic production in Third Countries is that only the plant extracts listed in Annex I or Annex VI of the Regulation may be used in plant protection products. Other plant extracts traditionally used which may have been permitted under equivalence are not allowed under the new regulation.  For more information, we recommend the COLEAD summary above and the FIBL Study on Impacts of the new EU organic regulation, chapter 3.4 and Annex 2.2.1 at https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/54313/.

Q: To get the approval for retroactive consideration of conversion period, does the CB need to conduct two audits (one audit before sowing) and if yes how is this applicable for perennial crop?

A: The new requirements for retroactive recognition of (part of) the conversion period in Third Countries are considerably stricter than common practices in some Third Countries/low risk crops. The new procedures are described in Art 24 of Regulation 2021/1698 based on Art 10 of regulation 2018/848. A lot of documentation is required for every land parcel and an audit before organic cultivation starts, as well as samples.  As each CB has detailed procedures (and required forms/proof) for this retroactive recognition, you are advised to contact your CB as early as possible for all new land plots and/or farmers, preferably BEFORE active cultivation of the respective plot starts and/or the farmer is added to the group. Some groups in Africa commented that the additional costs for retroactive recognition of every new plot with samples and additional inspections by the CB outweighed the costs of undergoing standard conversion period under the ICS of 3 years for new plots/farmers.  It is also highly recommended (and required) to register all fields of the farmer including fallow land not yet used for organic production to avoid that whenever cultivation e.g. on fallow land starts this has to be dealt with as retroactive recognition of conversion.

Q: Can a Group of Operators engage in parallel purchase of conventional coffee and separately handle and market it, besides having their organic farmers certified for coffee?

A: This depends on the source of the coffee. A Group of Operators, according to the new regulation, can only market products from its members in its joint marketing system, and all its members must by either in-conversion or organic farmers. This Group of Operators cannot buy non-organic coffee from non-organic non-member farmers and market it separately. However, this would be permitted under operator certification i.e. if the coffee cooperative in question is certified as “Operator” for processing & export and the small organic farmers of the cooperative are certified in a separate Group of Operators legal entity (e.g. a new association of organic farmers of the cooperative, or some first grade farmers organisations are certified organic Group of Operators and the second grade farmer organisation is certified as Operator marketing products from both organic first grade organisations(the Groups of Operators) and non-organic first grade organisations. However the production rules allow, under certain conditions, an organic farmer to have non-organic fields of the same product (parallel production)for limited time as part of a conversion plan and under close supervision of the CB. For example, in the example the organic or in-conversion coffee, farmer members could potentially also produce non-organic coffee or other non-organic products which COULD be marketed through the group of operators. Please note that parallel production of members of a Group of Operators is high risk and not recommended

Q: What about Wild Crops Harvesters?

A: See IFOAM Guidance on the new EU organic regulation for smallholders.  Wild collection of plants is considered “Plant Production” under the new EU Regulation.

Specific production Rules: Annex II, Part I Plant Production: Section 2.2 Rules for the collection of wild plants apply. Wild Collection of animals is not permitted (no wild collection of honey). The Group of Operator rules only apply for Agriculture but not for typical wild collection forests, etc.  Hybrid cases (e.g. if the collected wild crop is also collected from trees on the collector’s land) must be carefully assessed by the CB. If Collectors also cultivate the same crop on their farms, it is considered Agriculture and to be regulated under the rules for Groups of Operators.

Q: An exporter certified by a compliant CB has stocks of goods, acquired in October 2024, originated from Equivalence Suppliers whose CBs are not currently recognised as compliant. Can the exporter export these stocks of goods during the transition period until15 October 2025?

A: Please always check such cases with your CB. Only products from suppliers with valid equivalence certification certified by recognised CBs and whose certification in compliance with 2018/848 is pending can still be imported during the derogation period until 15 October 2025.

Q: India is in the list of equivalent Third Countries. Should the organic grower groups expect to have to adapt to compliance though?

A: India is again a complex case as the EU only recognises unprocessed plant products (Cat A) as equivalent but not processed plant products (Cat D). Therefore, grower groups with ICS in India are per se certified under the Indian NPOP rules for grower groups (and not in compliance with Regulation 2018/848), but if the groups produce Processed Products (Cat D), the processing is subject to additional certification in compliance with Regulation 2018/848. For additional information, see e.g.  FIBL Study on Impacts of the new EU organic regulation chapter 6.3 "Special Case India";  https://orgprints.org/id/eprint/54313/.  Please note that NPOP rules for grower groups have very recently changed significantly with an update of the Indian NPOP.