Skip to main content
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs An Roinn Talmhaíochta, Comhshaoil agus Gnóthaí Tuaithe Depairtment o' Fairmin, Environment an' Kintra Matthers

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Topics
  • Publications
  • Consultations
  • Contact

Translation help

Translate this page

Select a language

  • Arabic — عربي
  • Chinese (Simplified) — 中文简体
  • Chinese (Traditional) — 中文繁體
  • Dutch — Nederlands
  • Filipino — Filipino
  • French — Français
  • German — Deutsch
  • Hungarian — Magyar
  • Irish — Gaeilge
  • Italian — Italiano
  • Latvian — Latviešu
  • Lithuanian — Lietuvių kalba
  • Polish — Polski
  • Portuguese — Português
  • Romanian — Română
  • Russian — Русский
  • Slovak — Slovenčina
  • Spanish — Español
  • Ukrainian — Українська
  • Organic food in Northern Ireland: labelling rules

    Topics:
    • Food, 
    • Organics

    How organic food producers, sellers and importer in Northern Ireland must label organic food products.

    Contents:

    Label food as organic 
    List organic ingredients in non-organic products 
    Display the EU logo 
     

    You must register with one of the organic control bodies operating in Northern Ireland if you produce or sell organic food and you want to label it as organic.

    You can decide which body to register with based on your location and needs.

    Label food as organic

    You can only label pre-packed foods ‘organic’ if at least 95% of the ingredients are organic.

    Your food label must state:

    • where the product’s agricultural ingredients were produced:
    • ‘EU Agriculture’, where the agricultural raw material has been farmed in the EU;
    • ‘non-EU Agriculture’, where the agricultural raw material has been farmed in third countries;
    • ‘EU/non-EU Agriculture’, where part of the agricultural raw materials has been farmed in the EU and a part of it has been farmed in a third country.

    Please note, the above indications ‘EU’ or ‘non-EU’ may be replaced or supplemented by a country in the case where all agricultural raw materials of which the product is composed have been farmed in that country. Therefore, if all the agricultural raw materials have been farmed in Northern Ireland, then the operator may identify them with either of the following: 

    • UK (NI) Agriculture
    • United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) Agriculture
    • EU Agriculture

    The phrases ‘NI Agriculture’ and ‘Northern Ireland Agriculture’ alone may not be used.

    • your control body code “XI-ORG-XX”.

    If you’re a retailer, you can label products ‘organic’ as long as:

    • at least 95% of the product’s farmed ingredients are organic
    • you sell direct to customers in your shop – this applies to all retailers from farm shops to supermarkets
    • you have not imported the organic product

    List organic ingredients in non-organic products

    You can list ingredients in non-organic food products as organic so long as they meet EU organic standards. For example, your label can say ‘organic sugar’ on a food package that contains non-organic ingredients. You must also include the control body’s code number on the label.

    Display the EU logo

    You must use the EU organic logo on organic food produced in Northern Ireland.

     

     

    Related content

    • Organic Food in Northern Ireland: Produce Tests and Inspections
    • Organic food in Northern Ireland Rules for producing, processing, labelling and trading organic food in Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021
    • Organic food in Northern Ireland: how to get certification and apply for funding
    • Organic food in Northern Ireland: list of approved organic control bodies
    Share this page Share on Facebook (external link opens in a new window / tab) Share on X (external link opens in a new window / tab) Share by email (external link opens in a new window / tab)

    Department footer links

    • Crown copyright
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy
    • Cookies
    • Accessibility
    • The Northern Ireland Executive
    • The Executive Office
    • Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs
    • Department for Communities
    • Department for Education
    • Department for the Economy
    • Department of Finance
    • Department for Infrastructure
    • Department for Health
    • Department of Justice
    • nidirect.gov.uk — the official government website for Northern Ireland citizens