LegalizeCommission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2307 of 21 October 2021 laying down rules on documents and notifications required for organic and in-conversion products intended for import into the Union (Text with EEA relevance)
Article 1
Subject matter
This Regulation lays down rules on:
(a) the declarations and communications by importers, operators responsible for the consignments, first consignees and consignees for the import of products from third countries for the purpose of placing those products on the market within the Union as organic products or in-conversion products; and
(b) the notification by the competent authorities of the Member States of suspected or established non-compliance of consignments.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:
(1) ‘importer’ means a natural or legal person established in the Union and subject to the control system referred to in Regulation (EU) 2018/848, who presents the consignment for release for free circulation in the Union either on its own, or through a representative;
(2) ‘operator responsible for the consignment’ means, for the purposes of Article 6(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2306 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/2123 (1), either the importer or a natural or legal person established in the Union who presents the consignment at the border control post on behalf of the importer;
(3) ‘first consignee’ means a natural or legal person established in the Union and subject to the control system referred to in Regulation (EU) 2018/848 to whom the consignment is delivered by the importer after the release for free circulation and who receives it for further preparation and/or marketing;
(4) ‘consignee’ means a natural or legal person established in the Union and subject to the control system referred to in Regulation (EU) 2018/848 to whom the batch obtained from the splitting of a consignment is delivered by the importer after the release for free circulation and who receives it for further preparation and/or marketing;
(5) ‘consignment’ means a consignment, as defined in Article 3, point (37), of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), of products intended to be placed on the market within the Union as organic products or in-conversion products; however, in case of organic products and in-conversion products exempted from official controls at border control posts in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2305 (3), it means a quantity of products under one or more Combined Nomenclature codes, covered by a single certificate of inspection, conveyed by the same means of transport and imported from the same third country.
Article 3
Prior notification of arrival
For each consignment, the importer or, where appropriate, the operator responsible for the consignment, shall give prior notification of the arrival of the consignment at the border control post or the point of release for free circulation by completing and submitting in the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) referred to in Article 2, point (36), of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 (4) the relevant part of the certificate of inspection in accordance with the model and the notes set out in the Annex to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2306 to the following entities:
(a) the competent authority referred to in Article 6 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2306;
(b) the control authority or control body of the importer.
Article 4
Certificate of inspection and extract of the certificate of inspection
The importer and the first consignee shall complete the certificate of inspection in TRACES as follows:
(a) in box 23 on special customs procedures, the importer shall complete in TRACES all the information, except the information on the verification carried out by the relevant competent authority;
(b) in box 24 on the first consignee, the importer shall complete in TRACES the information if the information has not been filled in by the control authority or control body in the third country before the verification of the consignment and the endorsement of the certificate of inspection by the competent authority; and
(c) box 31 on the declaration of the first consignee shall be completed in TRACES by the first consignee at the reception of the consignment after its release for free circulation.
The same applies if a consignment is split into different batches in accordance with Article 7(3) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2306 after the verification and the endorsement of the certificate of inspection.
If the decision in relation to a batch recorded in the extract of the certificate of inspection in accordance with Articles 6(6) and 7(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2306 indicates that the batch is to be released for free circulation, the number of the extract of the certificate of inspection shall be reported in the customs declaration for release for free circulation as referred to in Article 158(1) of Regulation EU) No 952/2013.
The consignee shall, at the reception of a batch, complete in TRACES box 13 of the extract of the certificate of inspection, confirming whether, at the reception of the batch, the packaging or container and, where relevant, the certificate of inspection are in accordance with point 6 of Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2018/848.
Article 5
Documentary accounts
Upon request by the relevant competent authority, control authority or control body, the importer, the first consignee or the consignee shall provide the certificate of inspection or, where relevant, the extract of the certificate of inspection in which they are mentioned.
Article 6
Description of the production units and activities
In the case of an importer declaring the consignment for the release for free circulation, the full description of the organic or in-conversion production unit and of the activities as referred to in Article 39(1), point (d)(i), of Regulation (EU) 2018/848 shall include:
(a) the premises;
(b) the activities, indicating the points of release for free circulation in the Union;
(c) any other facilities that the importer intends to use for the storage of the imported products pending their delivery to the first consignee; and
(d) an undertaking to ensure that any facilities that will be used for the storage of imported products are submitted to control, to be carried out either by the control authority or control body or, where these storage facilities are situated in another Member State or region, by a control authority or control body recognised for controls in that Member State or region.
In the case of the first consignee and the consignee, the description shall include the facilities used for the reception of consignments and their storage.
Article 7
Notification of suspected or established non-compliance
If during the verification of compliance of a consignment in accordance with Article 6 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2306 cases of suspected or established non-compliance are identified, the Member State concerned shall immediately notify the Commission and the other Member States using the Organic Farming Information System (OFIS) and the template set out in Section 4 of Annex II to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/279 (7). The Commission shall inform the competent authority, or where relevant, the control authority or control body of the third country concerned.
Article 8
Transitional provisions for paper certificates of inspection and extracts thereof
In case the information relating to the number of packages referred to in box 13 of the certificate of inspection and the information in boxes 16 and 17 of that certificate is not completed in the paper certificate of inspection, or in case that information is different from the information completed in the certificate in TRACES, the first consignee shall consider the information completed in the certificate in TRACES.
Article 9
Entry into force and application
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2022.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
ANNEX
PART I
EXTRACT No … OF THE CERTIFICATE OF INSPECTION FOR THE IMPORT OF ORGANIC AND IN-CONVERSION PRODUCTS INTO THE EUROPEAN UNION
| 1. Control authority or control body having issued the underlying certificate of inspection | 2. Procedures pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1): □ Compliance (Article 46); □ Equivalent third country (Article 48); □ Equivalent control authority or control body (Article 57); or □ Equivalence under a trade agreement (Article 47). |
|---|---|
| 3. Certificate of inspection reference number | 4. Control authority or control body |
| 5. Importer | 6. Country of origin |
| 7. Country of export | 8. Border control post/control point/point of release for free circulation |
| 9. Country of destination | 10. Consignee of the batch obtained from splitting |
| 11. Description of products Organic or in conversion CN codes Category Number of packages Lot number Net weight of the batch and net weight of the original consignment | |
| 12. Declaration of the relevant competent authority verifying and endorsing the extract of the certificate. This extract corresponds to the batch described above and obtained by the splitting of a consignment which is covered by an original certificate of inspection with a number mentioned in box 3. □ To be released as organic; □ To be released as in-conversion; □ To be released as non-organic; □ The batch cannot be released for free circulation. Additional information: Authority and Member State: Date: Name and signature of authorised person/qualified electronic seal | |
| 13. Declaration of the consignee of the batch This is to confirm that at the reception of the products, the packaging or container and, where relevant, the certificate of inspection are: □ in accordance with point 6 of Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2018/848; or □ not in accordance with point 6 of Annex III to Regulation (EU) 2018/848. | |
| Name and signature of the authorised person | Date: |
| (1) Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 1). |
PART II
NOTES FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE MODEL OF THE EXTRACT OF THE CERTIFICATE OF INSPECTION
Extract No …:The extract number corresponds to the number of the batch obtained from the splitting of the original consignment.
Reading this document does not replace reading the official text published in the Official Journal of the European Union. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies arising from the conversion of the original to this format.