Dear Client,

We at Control Union Certifications (CUC), would like to share with you, European Commission’s recent
clarification on the implementation of Art. 13(2) of Reg. 1235/2008, related to the Certificate of Inspection
(CoI).

CUC received a written position from the DG Agri of EC, which states the following: “In order to fulfill the
above requirements (Art. 33 (1) of Reg. 889/2008 and Art. 13 (3) of Reg. 1235/2008), the certificate
(CoI) must be issued before the product leaves the third (exporting) country …”.

Later, CUC was informed that EC will soon introduce an amendment to the Art. 13(2) of Reg. 1235/2008.
The amendment will officially clarify that CoI shall be issued prior to the departure of the shipment. It was
also informed that some authorities of the Member States in the European Union (e.g. French and UK)
already started implementing the requirement.

As you are aware of the trade practices, the introduction of such regulation will have a disruptive effect
on the way the trade works. Control Union and other leading CBs have already raised their concern
through the European Organic Certifiers Council (EOCC) to EC as regards the amendment. The EC has
acknowledged some of the practical challenges and is further in discussion with EOCC.

We already foresee the risk that customs in European Union might implement differently and that goods
might be downgraded as conventional at the customs. In order to mitigate the economic loss which might
occur for your operation, we would like to take a temporary measure, with immediate effect, till the EC
has made its final decision on this issue.

The temporary measure will consist of two steps for issuing a CoI, i.e., the issuance of a CoI before the
departure of the shipment (1st step) and CoI correction after the shipment (2nd step). For issuing the CoI
(1st step), the documents required for desk assessment by CUC will be the same, except for final exporting
transport documents. You should provide the required documents, except for final exporting transport
documents, five working days before the consignments leave the exporting country. In case of any delay
in submission of the required documents, it would be a risk for you that CUC may not be able to issue the
CoI prior to the departure of the shipment. This might lead to the consequence that your goods might be
downgraded as conventional by the EU customs as per the abovementioned regulation.

After the shipment, we expect you to provide us the final exporting transport documents to correct the
CoI on TRACES. For journeys less than 15 days, please send us the final documents within 24 hours after
the consignment departures; for journeys more than 15 days, please send them in 48 hours after the
consignment departures.

In addition to the abovementioned measure, as required by UK authorities, for all the shipments to the
UK, the original copy must be printed, signed and sent by the CUC offices where it is issued via
post/courier. This may lead to delays, thus please submit your COI requests at the earliest.

In the meantime, CUC is communicating with EC and EOCC regarding this issue. We hope to have a
harmonized and practical approach in resolving this matter, one of the solutions as proposed by EC is the
implementation of the digital COIs (E-seal). CUC has completed the formalities in that regard and is eagerly
waiting for EC to complete the formalities without any delay further.

We shall keep you informed.