Brexit has caused much uncertainty for organic farmers and growers, manufacturers and traders.
As the UK’s leading food and farming charity we are here to reassure and support our licensees following our departure from the EU.
This Brexit Hub contains lots of free information, checklists for your business and webinars to help you prepare for Brexit.
This information is correct at the time of publishing (4th March 2021). Please ensure that you are checking the page regularly for current information.
We are currently experiencing significant demand for certification services due to Brexit. Please be assured if you have emailed us we have your query and will aim to get back to you within 21 days
Important new updates and clarifications:
Exporting and Trade Deal Scope - It has now become clear that the scope of the EU-UK trade agreement covers products which are grown/produced or processed in the UK only. Retail labelled products imported into GB and materials/products which are imported and simply packed and/or labelled in GB are not covered by the deal. There are additional requirements to enable export to the EU/NI of these products. You'll find guidance on trading out-of-scope product on our Export Resources page.
Importing and Trade Deal Scope- Goods imported into the EU from other third countries and not further processed are outside the scope of the EU-UK agreement and cannot be re-exported to GB. Although GB Certificates of Inspection (COI) will not be required for imports from the EU until 1st July this year, it is still not clear how EU exporters will satisfy UK requirements.
Exporting to NI - Authorised Traders (which includes movement of organic food and drink) will be extended until 1st October. This means that existing authorised traders will not need to present COIs For those not covered by the scheme, the government’s Movement Assistance Scheme is also to be extended and will see government reimbursing certifier’s costs for COI, resulting in a free of charge service.
Labelling - Defra have now reversed the previous decision on use of a UK agricultural origin statement on product packed in GB. Unless a single country statement can be employed, a UK origin statement (i.e. UK/non-UK Agriculture) must be used, regardless of use of an EU statement.
COI Services - We are currently experiencing significant demand for COI services at present. Same-day endorsement may be possible where submissions are made by 12:00 that day. Weekend endorsement may be possible where submissions are made by 3PM Friday. (by pre-arrangement only). For more further information on purchasing COI and service times, please visit our COI Payment page
From 2021 there are likely to be:
From the 1st January 2021:
Imports
Exports
Tariffs
Labelling
For changes to labelling please view our labelling pages.
From 1st January 2021, there will be different rules around exporting.
From 1st January 2021, there will be different rules around importing.
What’s staying the same?
Nothing will change to the Soil Association organic standards post-Brexit and we will continue to maintain our existing high standards.
All UK certifiers will continue to certify UK organic businesses for UK trade.
All issued certificates with a 2021 expiry date will remain valid in the UK. Read more on certificate validity after January 1st 2021
What’s changing?
New UK organic food & farming statutory instruments have now been passed into law, ready to become regulation after Brexit. In anticipation of continued access to EU market these will remain closely aligned with existing EC organic regulations.
From 1st January 2021, there will be different rule about labelling.
Events & Workshops
Government advice
Scotland