Organic Certification

Since 1991, the EU has regulated how organic products are produced, processed, and labeled, as well as how compliance with these rules is monitored. EU law has since ensured fair competition and protects consumers from being misled about organic products. 

The EU Organic Regulations 834/2007 and 889/2008 govern the labeling of organic products. They allow the consistent use of the terms “organic” or “ecological” only for foods that are produced and processed in accordance with the regulations and whose producers have been appropriately inspected. The product’s ingredient list must indicate which ingredients are organically produced. A food product may be labeled as “organic” or “eco” only if at least 95% of its agricultural ingredients come from organic farming. A mandatory element on the label of every organic product is the indication of the organic control body that has verified that the producing or processing company complies with the legal requirements for organic farming and processing. 

The codes of organic control bodies in all EU countries follow a uniform structure. For control bodies based in Germany, for example, the code is given as “DE-ÖKO-002,” where “DE” stands for Germany, “ÖKO” (or a corresponding abbreviation in other countries) indicates the product’s origin in organic farming, and “002” (or another three-digit number) identifies the control body. This number is assigned by the supervisory authorities to the respective control body. 

The EU organic regulations, completely revised in 2007 and 2008, stipulate that all organic foods produced or processed in EU member states must carry the European Union organic logo—a light green rectangle with a white leaf silhouette formed from EU stars. When the EU organic logo is used, it is mandatory to indicate the geographic origin of the ingredients: “EU Agriculture” if at least 98% of the agricultural ingredients come from the EU, “Non-EU Agriculture” for products whose origin is at least 98% from non-EU countries, and “EU/Non-EU Agriculture” for all other products. A simple guide for consumers in Germany is the German hexagonal organic seal. This label was introduced in 2002 by the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection and may be used for all organic products that are “produced, processed, or imported into the EU according to EU organic regulations.” 

 Source: Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft e. V. (BÖLW) (2012): Nachgefragt: 28 Antworten zum Stand des Wissens rund um Öko-Landbau und Bio-Lebensmittel, pp. 10–13.