Trade Regulation Updates

Dear US Organic Produce Importer,

In January of 2023, the USDA and the associated National Organic Program (NOP) announced an update to the processes surrounding the import of organic produce into the US. 

This is a courtesy notice to inform you that beginning on March 19, 2024, you will be expected to provide additional certification on each of your organic imports in the form of an NOP Electronic Import Certificate from a USDA-accredited certifier. These transaction certificates contain detailed information about the quantity and origin of the organic produce being imported into the US. 

Aside from any new processes associated with this regulatory update, the fundamental deviation from previous iterations is that these certificates are based on commodity, and for each HTS code in your shipment, a certificate will be required. 

This applies to all organic produce exported into the US. The process for acquiring and presenting the necessary documentation is summarized below. 

Step 1: 

The foreign exporter requests the NOP Import Certificate from a Certifier.

Step 2: 

The Certifier reviews the request, issues an Import Certificate in the USDA Integrity Database, and gives it to the foreign exporter, who then provides the certificate information to the Importer.

Step 3: 

Each NOP Import Certificate will have a unique identification number. As a part of its standard filing process, the US importer or customs broker enters the NOP Import Certificate number into the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system. This will associate the shipment details in ACE with the import certificate information. No upload to DIS is required and the NOP Import Certificate does not have to physically accompany the shipment.

The USDA ‘Electronic Organic Imports Certificates’ page, fact sheet, and final rule primers provide full details on the upcoming regulation.

As a valued client of PCB, you receive the benefit of our proactive release process, which ensures your imports will be declared with the additional requirements listed above:

1. Upon receipt, our release team ensures all necessary documents that are required for import are included. 
2. If they are missing, we will reach out to you, your carrier, or your vendor to obtain this paperwork (depending on the service package, an additional fee may apply)

Please contact your account manager with any questions you have about these new requirements at any time by emailing ‍tcg@pcbusa.com or calling toll-free at 1.877.332.8534.