According to the EU Regulation (EC) No. 1235/2008, every consignment of organic product imported from a third country (as defined in EU Regulation (EC) No. 834/2007 and respectively Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance [Annex 4]) has to be accompanied by a certificate of inspection. This certificate of inspection will be issued upon the request of the exporter by his inspection body. The original will be sent to the importer.

Please find the basic procedures to get a certificate of inspection below. To speed up the issuance of the certificates of inspection we strongly recommend that exporters do use our online certification system WorldCert.

1. The basic document for issuing a product certificate is the invoice. The invoice has to be sent electronically or faxed together with the application form (IMO Request_Form_Certificates of inspection.doc) to IMO. The bill of lading or airwaybill have to be joined to the invoice and the application form.
2. On all official transfer documents (invoice, transport papers, packing lists) the organic quality, year of harvest, producing farm and the lot-numbers have to be indicated.
3. The application form (IMO Request_Form_Certificates of inspection.doc) has always to be completely filled in and supported by the respective documents. As soon as all information is at hand, checked and found correct by IMO, the certificate of inspection can be issued.
4. If a certificate of inspection is needed for material purchased from non IMO-certified operators, the purchase invoice and the corresponding product certificate issued by its inspection body and furnished by your supplier needs to be enclosed.
5. In case your purchase is originating from another IMO-certified operator, the corresponding purchase invoice has to be enclosed to the request of issuance of certificate of inspection.
6. A valid import authorisation must be available for all products, including the non IMO-certified products or products bought from other suppliers
7. As soon as the documentation is complete and all questions resolved, the original IMO certificate will be issued and sent directly to the importer. The exporter will always be supplied with a copy and is kindly requested to file it until the next inspection. The status of the certificates requested can be looked up in WorldCert and the copies of the certificates issued can be downloaded as pdf-files.
8. The certificates of inspection will be sent to the buyer by unregistered airmail. Courier cost or the cost for fax copies (including the administration fees) have to be paid by the exporter.
   

>> Of course all information give in the request will be handled strictly confidential.

Invoices for the certificates of inspection will be raised on a quarterly year base. The fees are decreasing according to the numbers of certificates issued for the same customer per calendar year.
The fee per certificate is the following:
1st to 5th certificate: CHF 115.-/ US$ 95.-/ € 85.- each
6th to 10th certificate: CHF 90.-/ US$ 80.-/ € 70.- each
11th and more certificates: CHF 60.-/ US$ 50.-/ € 45.- each

Please note that we do offer a discount of CHF/US$/EUR 5.- for all requests that are duly and completely filled and submitted by the WorldCert electronic system. All details needed such as numbers and date of invoice and shipping papers, as well as all products, including the relevant lot numbers to be mentioned on the certificate, can be easily filled in the entry masks of WorldCert

The rates of the certificates will always be calculated on the total amount of certificates issued per importer and previous invoices will be deducted. If check-backs due to incomplete or unclear information are necessary, the additional time needed will be charged on actuals (CHF 125.-/US$ 100.- per hour).