According to the new Regulation (EC) No. 1788/01, effective from 1 November 2002, the products imported into the EU must be accompanied by the original Certificate of Inspection for import of organic products into the European Community.

The above mentioned certificate must be issued by the body certifying the exporting enterprise in the third country. The importer must apply to this enterprise in order to obtain this certificate that will accompany the goods from the country of provenance to the country of destination.

The Authority in charge of verifying the consignment covered by the Certificate of Inspection is the Customs Authority, in accordance with Reg. (EC) No. 1788/2001 and subsequent communication of Mi.P.A.F.   The importer must submit the original Certificate (no copy or other formats are accepted) to the Customs Authority for endorsement in box 17 during the customs clearance operations. 

Moreover, in accordance with the Reg. (EEC) No. 2092/91, the importer must inform the certification body (ICEA) of any lot imported into the Community, and send one copy of the Certificate of Inspection to

Import Office in Bologna, fax no. 051/232011, to the attention of Ms. Ilaria Pavan.

Besides requesting ICEA to accept him into its certification scheme as an importer, the operator may apply for ICEA Product Certificate for the imported products by forwarding the appropriate form (M.0503) accompanied by the relevant Certificate of Inspection, customs clearance document and invoice or transport document.

The Certificate of Inspection, subdivided into 18 boxes on one single sheet, must be prepared by the certification body in the third country.


For any further detail, write to import@icea.info