Export certificate terms and conditions

1.0 Service

Export certificate service

Soil Association Certification Ltd will endorse export certificates for its contracted organic clients as part of the requirement of the regulations and trade agreements between the UK and the importing country.

2.0 Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for an endorsed certificate of export you must:

• hold a valid Soil Association Certification certificate for the requested organic products

• meet the terms of the trade agreement between the UK and the importing country

• correctly complete the requested certificate and submit this to Soil Association Certification within the required timeframe

• supply Soil Association Certification with the supporting documents required for satisfactory checks to be made

• have purchased the sufficient amount of credits for this process with Soil Association Certification

Failure to meet the eligibility criteria will mean the certificate cannot be endorsed.

3.0 Cost, refund and replacement

3.1 Cost

The cost of endorsing the certificate, as outlined in 1.0, is charged per consignment and listed on our website.

3.2 Refunds

If a certificate is purchased without meeting the eligibility criteria, as detailed in 2.0, a refund will not apply.

If after purchasing a credit and the certificate being endorsed by Soil Association Certification staff, the certificate is then no longer required by the client, a refund will not apply.

If a Soil Association Certification client purchases an incorrect amount of credits, or the service is no longer required, a refund will not apply.

3.3 Replacements or changes

Should a certificate require amending or replacing, no additional cost will apply unless the change exceeds 3 separate requests which are beyond those allowed for in regulations.

Thereafter, this will be considered as a new certificate and a charge will apply. Our standard delivery timescales, outlined in clause 4.1, apply after receipt of each amended submission.

4.0 Delivery

4.1 Standard delivery

Providing the eligibility criteria outlined in section 2.0 has been met, electronic delivery or conformation of an endorsed certificate will take up to three working days from the date of submission.

Please be advised that additional checks may be required if your consignment has a high-risk product or high-risk country identified in line with (EC) 1235/2008 which will increase turnaround time.

The Import/Export team will inform you via email if any additional documentation or information of the consignment is required.

4.2 Working days and hours

Our working hours are 8:30am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. We have a limited service of 12pm to 3pm on Saturdays, which is reserved for pre-booked COIs and emergency amendments.

Please send your export certificate requests to coi@soilassociation.org or via the TRACES NT portal at least 2 working days before the consignment leaves Great Britain.

If you do not submit your certificate request to Soil Association Certification within the timeframe set out by regulations, Soil Association Certification may not be able to issue this for you.

Please see the exporting requirements on our Exporting page, for full details on times, requirements and trade agreements for all countries.

For all other terms and conditions, refer to the client contract.

5.0 Currency

All fees and charges will be processed in UK pounds sterling, with VAT applied at the applicable rate.