How to apply for organic certification

What is organic certification?

Any food product sold as ‘organic’ in the UK has to comply with organic regulation requirements written into a set of Standards. Organic certification is a requirement to demonstrate a product or operation has met these legal standards. The Soil Association symbol is a recognised and trusted mark of organic certification internationally, and as a certification body we deliver certification to some of the highest organic standards.

Who is organic certification for?

If you’re playing a part in the supply chain or marketing an organic food or drink product or livestock feed, UK regulations require you to be certified. Activities in the supply chain that require certification include:

• manufacturing

• packing or re-packing

• storing

• importing

• wholesaling/trading

• labelling organic products

• selling loose produce or zero waste operations

• operations such as warehousing and storage will also need to be licensed if handling organic products

If your business enterprise is based outside of the UK, in order for us to certify your products as organic, you’ll need to be certified with the equivalent certification body in the country where your business is based. 

What do organic standards cover?

Organic standards apply to all aspects of organic manufacturing and production, storage and sales. The Soil Association Certification organic standards cover the UK’s organic regulations (EC 834/2007 and EC 889/2008 as retained in GB and as applied in the EU if you are in Northern Ireland) and include some additional, higher standards in some key areas, for example livestock production, GM, additives and packaging.

Certification involves us auditing your operation to verify how you meet the organic standards. It is therefore important that you have read the standards and are familiar with them.

What’s involved in the application process?

There are some key areas that you’ll need to consider when thinking about applying for certification, such as:

• your supply chain

• record keeping

• labelling your products

• product composition

• separation when processing and storing

• importing

Prepare for organic certification

At the application stage, you’ll be asked to demonstrate how your business meets the standards across a number of areas. To make your application journey run as smoothly as possible, we’ve created a guide to help you through this process. This guide outlines the key factors you’ll need to implement as part of your application. We have included the standard each area relates to in brackets.

Current guidance

Suppliers (5.7.2)

Your direct suppliers (including wholesalers and traders that sell pre-packed certified goods) must hold their own organic certificate for the products they will sell to you.

If correctly certified, your supplier will be able to provide a valid organic certificate and product schedule listing the products they are certified for. The company name on the certificate should match your supplier’s company name.

Record Keeping (5.7)

You will need to implement records to show:

• goods in – each incoming delivery needs to be recorded, including quantities and batch numbers, the organic status checked and a record of the check kept

• production/packing records (if applicable) – including what’s been made, quantities and batch numbers of ingredients and of finished products

• goods out – including what was despatched, quantities and batch numbers

• stock records – for raw materials and finished products

To access example record keeping templates visit our Resources page.

Labelling (5.8, 5.9, 5.10)

There are mandatory labelling criteria that must be met for organic products. This includes:

• the EU organic leaf logo (where applicable)

• the certification code of the final processor of the product (for example, Soil Association code is GB-ORG-05)

• a statement of agriculture to reflect the origin of the ingredients (for example, UK Agriculture)

• Soil Association organic logo (if certified to Soil Association standards)

• if a multi-ingredient product, ingredients must be declared in descending order by weight and the ingredient declaration must indicate which ingredients are organic and which are non-organic

• printing labels - we advise against printing any labels until they have been sent in for approval and confirmed as compliant with the standards (any labels printed prior to this is done so at your own risk)

Product Composition (6.3)

A product must contain at least 95% organic agricultural ingredients in order to be certified and labelled as organic. The 5% allowance can only be made up of certain approved ingredients as stipulated in the standards.

Salt and water can't be organic, but are fine to use in organic products. These would not be included in the calculation. Most additives do not need to be included in the calculation, but some do. See the Soil Association standards for full details.

For more information, please see our product composition resources.

Separation (6.1.4, 5.15.1)

If you intend to process, store, receive deliveries of both organic and non-organic goods at your site, you will need to consider safeguards to prevent contamination such as:

• dedicated storage areas/equipment

• thorough clean downs between processing with records to demonstrate this

• bleed runs or purges with organic material

Importing into Great Britain

You must hold an organic processor licence in order to import organic products into Great Britain.

Not all certification bodies and standards are accepted, and paper-based Certificates of Inspection (COI) must be in place for each consignment.

Importing without a licence in place risks the products losing their organic status and the goods being held at port, where holding fees are usually charged.

Where not licensed for importing, first consignees (those who first physically receive the goods) may also require a licence.

Apply for organic certification

Soil Association Certification certifies the majority of organic food and drink products in the UK. This, coupled with our years of experience in organic certification, means we are able to offer an unrivalled, high-quality and straightforward service to our clients.

We want your application process to run as smoothly as possible and for you to achieve organic certification with us in a timely manner. Therefore, please ensure you have read the standards and taken a look at our Resources page before applying.

What happens next?

Once you’ve completed your application form, signed your contract and paid your application fee, we will help you review your products and enterprises (the activities we will certify, for example production, storage, trading), and ensure you are prepared for your first inspection.

How long will it take to become certified?

We estimate that the application process from the date we receive your application to your licence being issued will take 10-12 weeks. This is dependent on many factors and how prepared you are when you apply.

The certification process

• submit a completed application with your payment and signed copy of contract, as well as product specifications and labels (if available at this point)

• you'll be assigned a designated Certification Officer (CO), who will review your application and act as a guide through the application process

• an initial audit is carried out, verifying that the processes and procedures declared are in place and sufficient to ensure organic integrity

• if the auditor identifies any areas where the standards are not being met, this is raised through our online portal

• you can use the portal to provide details of the actions you will take and provide supporting evidence

• your Certification Officer reviews corrective actions, audit findings and products/labels submitted

• if no further information is required, these are approved

• your licence is issued

• you will be sent a copy of your certificate and product schedule