For NOP clients receiving product from and certified to a national standard or regulation of the Republic of Korea, Japan, Switzerland or the EU 28 Member States, note that it is required that the product or ingredient travel with an NOP Import Certificate. This transaction document is mandated by the United States Agricultural Marketing (AMS) as a condition of those equivalency arrangements. It must be completed by the exporting country certifier. It is an additional document and does not replace the need to have the product certificate on file at QAI.

While this requirement is not new, NOP accredited certifiers like QAI have received clarification that this should be part of the documents monitored by certification bodies. These import certificates will be verified as part of your annual certification audit.

For more information on requirements on importing organic products/ingredients into the United States, please reference Importing Organic Products into the U.S. on the NOP website.

For additional questions regarding this requirement, please contact your certification project manager or International Specialist Kasey Moctezuma at kasey@qai-inc.com.