The European Union and Switzerland approve as equivalent the production methods and systems of inspection of certain countries. These countries are listed on the “Third Countries List” (as defined in Regulation (EC) N° 1235/2007 and amending Regulations (EC) N° 345/2008 , 537/2009 and 471/2010, and respectively Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance [Annex 4]). These Third Countries are Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Israel, New Zealand, Switzerland, Tunis and Japan. Organic products from these countries can be imported without import authorisation.

Imports from all other countries do need an import authorisation issued by the European authorities of the country of import. The equivalence of the production methods will be approved case by case. The import authorisation must include all products and all producers and processors of the exporter. Without a valid import authorisation the certificate of inspection can not be issued properly.

The application procedures and application forms do differ in most countries of import. In any case the application form for the authorisation has to be checked and signed by the certification body of the exporter. At present efforts are being made to standardise the application procedures. The importer has to apply for the authorisation at the authority of his country. IMO is supporting the importers and is providing the required documentation: official application form signed and stamped by IMO, master certificates, inspection reports and further information.

Procedure’s description:

1. The importer is commissioning IMO to prepare the documents for his import authorisation by filling in and sending it per mail at import@imo.ch the appropriated application form in which also the tariffs of the services are mentioned:
   Request_on_issue_of_import_authorisation_documents_2011.doc
   Antrag_für_die_Ausstellung_von_Einzelermächtigung_2011.doc
   Antrag_für_die_Ausstellung_von_Vermarktungsgenehmigun_2011.doc
   
2. IMO will execute the request according the orders of the importer. Once all questions are settled, it will take approximately three weeks until the application is ready to be submitted to the authorities.
3. The completed application will be sent to the importer. He will sign and send it to the authorities.
4. The authorities will decide on the import authorisation.
5. Once the importer receives his import authorisation he can start to import and geht the transactions certificates.