# Organic certification from India: NPOP, USDA NOP and EU > Organic food ingredients from India: NPOP, USDA NOP and EU organic rules, scope and transaction certificates, how to verify them and the lab tests to ask for. Source: https://sourcesquid.co/intelligence/organic-certification-npop-usda-eu/ [Compliance](https://sourcesquid.co/intelligence/?cat=compliance)8 min readUpdated 28 September 2026 # Organic certification for food ingredients from India: NPOP, USDA NOP and EU organic Organic food ingredients exported from India must be certified under India's National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP), with a scope certificate for the operator and a transaction certificate for each sale, issued through APEDA's TraceNet system. For the US, the operation also needs certification by a USDA-accredited certifying agent and an NOP Import Certificate for every shipment; for the EU, each consignment needs an electronic certificate of inspection in TRACES, and processed products need an EU-recognised control body. **Anirudh** Founder and Director, SourceSquid · 15 years sourcing in India and China On this page 1. Three markets, three rulebooks 2. NPOP: India’s organic programme 3. Scope certificate and transaction certificate 4. Selling in the United States 5. Selling in the European Union 6. How to verify a supplier’s certificates 7. Lab tests to ask for 8. Worked example: organic coconut flour for the US and the EU Free · 48 hours Send us your part or product. We return costs, clusters and risks. [Get a free teardown](https://sourcesquid.co/start/?from=guide-organic) ## Key takeaways * Every organic product exported from India must comply with NPOP. Certification bodies are accredited under the programme, with APEDA as secretariat. * A scope certificate says what an operator may sell as organic. A transaction certificate proves that a specific lot, sold on a specific date, is covered. * USDA ended its recognition of NPOP in 2021: US-bound products need a USDA-accredited certifier and, since 19 March 2024, an NOP Import Certificate per shipment. * The EU recognises NPOP for unprocessed plant products grown in India. Processed products such as oils, flours and desiccated coconut need a control body recognised by the EU for India. * Organic is a process claim, so test as well: pesticide residues including ethylene oxide, microbiology and product-specific quality, in an ISO/IEC 17025 (NABL-accredited) laboratory. On this page8 sections 1. Three markets, three rulebooks 2. NPOP: India’s organic programme 3. Scope certificate and transaction certificate 4. Selling in the United States 5. Selling in the European Union 6. How to verify a supplier’s certificates 7. Lab tests to ask for 8. Worked example: organic coconut flour for the US and the EU ## Three markets, three rulebooks Organic is a certified production process, and each market decides whose certificate it trusts. For food ingredients from India, three schemes matter. Every organic product exported from India must comply with NPOP, whatever its destination, and the US and EU add their own requirements on top. | India: NPOP | United States: USDA NOP | European Union ---|---|---|--- Rulebook | National Programme for Organic Production, notified under India’s Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act | National Organic Program, 7 CFR Part 205 | Regulation (EU) 2018/848, applying since 1 January 2022 Who certifies | Certification bodies accredited under NPOP; APEDA is the secretariat | Certifying agents accredited by USDA | Control bodies recognised by the EU, or NPOP bodies for recognised categories Operator certificate | Scope certificate, issued yearly | USDA organic certificate | NPOP certificate or EU-recognised control body certificate Shipment document | Transaction certificate, issued through TraceNet | NOP Import Certificate, mandatory since 19 March 2024 | Electronic certificate of inspection (e-COI) in TRACES Where to verify | Certification body and TraceNet code | Organic Integrity Database | TRACES and the Commission’s lists of recognised bodies ## NPOP: India’s organic programme NPOP is run by the Department of Commerce, with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) as its secretariat. Certification bodies are accredited under the programme and inspect farms, grower groups, processors and traders against the national standards. Plant products can be certified organic after a conversion period: at least two years of organic management before sowing for annual crops, and at least three years before the first organic harvest for perennials such as coconut, spices and tea. Smallholders are usually certified as grower groups run through an internal control system. All NPOP certification runs through **TraceNet** , APEDA’s web-based certification and traceability system. Scope certificates and transaction certificates, including provisional ones, are issued through TraceNet with a unique verifiable code. ## Scope certificate and transaction certificate Buyers often receive a scope certificate and stop there. Under NPOP the two documents do different jobs: Document | Issued | What it proves ---|---|--- Scope certificate | To the operator, each year | The operator’s certified scope: which products, and which activities (production, processing, handling, trading) Provisional transaction certificate (PTC) | Before export | All details of a specific organic consignment except the transport details Transaction certificate (TC) | For every sale | That the certification body has verified the documents for this lot and that it is organic; transport details added after shipment Check that the scope certificate covers the exact product and every activity the supplier performs. A trader that buys and repacks needs trading and handling in its scope; a processor that dries and mills needs processing. Then ask for the TC for your lot, and check the quantity, lot numbers and your company name against your invoice and packing list. ## Selling in the United States On 11 January 2021, USDA ended its recognition agreement with APEDA, with a transition that closed on 12 July 2022. Since then, organic products from India sold in the US must be certified by a **USDA-accredited certifying agent** under the National Organic Program. Several certifiers operating in India hold both NPOP accreditation and USDA accreditation, so one inspection visit can often cover both. Under the Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule, every shipment of organic products into the US must be associated with an **NOP Import Certificate** from 19 March 2024. The exporter asks its certifier for it; the certifier generates it in USDA’s Organic Integrity Database; and the exporter gives it to the US importer for entry into the US customs system (ACE). USDA also reminds exporters that India’s own rules still apply, including TraceNet transaction certificates for exports. ## Selling in the European Union The EU recognises India as equivalent for two categories only, listed in Annex I of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325: **unprocessed plant products** (category A) and **vegetative propagating material and seeds** (category F), in each case grown in India and certified under NPOP by the listed Indian control bodies, with APEDA as competent authority. This recognition currently runs until 31 December 2026. In December 2025 the Commission proposed extending the recognition of third countries to 31 December 2036 (COM(2025) 780); check its status before you plan contracts beyond 2026. **Processed products** (category D), such as coconut oil, desiccated coconut, flours or spice blends, are not covered by India’s recognition. They need certification by a control body that the EU recognises for India and category D. Whatever the route, every organic consignment entering the EU needs an **electronic certificate of inspection (e-COI) in TRACES** , issued by the exporter’s control body and endorsed at import. EU buyers test Indian organic ingredients closely for fumigant residues: the Commission’s 2021 regulation records around 90 notifications for organic sesame seed from India containing ethylene oxide. Build that test into every lot. ## How to verify a supplier’s certificates 1. **NPOP.** Confirm the certification body is on APEDA’s list of NPOP-accredited certification bodies. Check the scope certificate for product, activities, validity and certificate number, and ask for the TraceNet transaction certificate for your lot, with its verifiable code. 2. **USDA.** Search the operation in the Organic Integrity Database. The listing shows its status, certifying agent and certified products. If your product is not listed, it is not certified. Confirm the NOP Import Certificate is issued before the goods arrive. 3. **EU.** Check that the control body is recognised by the EU for India and for your product category. Ask for the operator’s certificate and make sure the e-COI is prepared in TRACES for each consignment. 4. **The chain.** Every link needs its own certificate: grower group, processor, exporter. A gap at any step, such as an uncertified trader, breaks the organic claim. ## Lab tests to ask for Certification checks the process. Lab tests check the product. Ask for reports from a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, which in India means accredited by NABL, the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories. Test | Why it matters | Typical products ---|---|--- Multi-residue pesticide screen | Confirms that no prohibited pesticides were used | All crops Ethylene oxide and 2-chloroethanol | Fumigant residues found in past EU notifications | Sesame, spices, seeds, gums Aflatoxins and ochratoxin A | Mould toxins from drying and storage | Nuts, spices, dried fruit, cereals Microbiology | Salmonella, E. coli, yeast and mould, total plate count | Desiccated coconut, flours, spices, ready-to-eat items Heavy metals | Lead, cadmium and others, by product type | Spices, herbs, rice Product quality | Free fatty acids, moisture, peroxide value, particle size | Oils, flours, desiccated coconut Test each lot, or agree a sampling plan tied to lot size, and keep the reports with the transaction certificate. For a shipment of organic coconut products, for example, that means a lot-wise report for free fatty acids, moisture, microbiology and pesticide residues, sitting alongside the TC. The [test advisor](https://sourcesquid.co/tools/test-advisor/) lists the tests by product and market. ## Worked example: organic coconut flour for the US and the EU A food brand buys organic coconut flour from a processor near [Coimbatore](https://sourcesquid.co/india-atlas/clusters/coimbatore/) for customers in the US and Germany. This example is illustrative. **India.** The processor holds an NPOP scope certificate covering processing of coconut flour, and buys fresh coconuts from an NPOP-certified grower group. Each export lot gets a TraceNet transaction certificate. **United States.** Coconut flour is only organic in the US if the processor is certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent. The brand finds the processor in the Organic Integrity Database, with coconut flour listed, and asks for the NOP Import Certificate for each shipment before it sails. **European Union.** Coconut flour is a processed product (category D), so India’s NPOP recognition does not cover it. The processor is also certified by a control body that the EU recognises for India and category D, which issues the e-COI in TRACES for each consignment. **Testing.** Each lot is tested by a NABL-accredited laboratory for pesticide residues including ethylene oxide, microbiology, moisture and fat, and the reports travel with the certificates. Organic sourcing works best when certificates and tests are checked before the first order, not at the port. Our guides to [finding manufacturers in India](https://sourcesquid.co/intelligence/how-to-find-manufacturers-in-india/) and [factory audits](https://sourcesquid.co/intelligence/factory-audit-checklist/) cover the supplier side, and the India Atlas maps where [organic coconut products](https://sourcesquid.co/india-atlas/products/organic-coconut-products/) are made. ## Free tools for this guide * [Quality**Product test advisor**](https://sourcesquid.co/tools/test-advisor/) * [ Quality**Inspection checklist generator**](https://sourcesquid.co/tools/inspection-checklist/) * [ Classification**HS code finder**](https://sourcesquid.co/tools/hs-code-finder/) * [ Suppliers**India manufacturing cluster finder**](https://sourcesquid.co/tools/india-cluster-finder/) ## In the India Sourcing Atlas [Organic coconut products](https://sourcesquid.co/india-atlas/products/organic-coconut-products/)[Coconut (material)](https://sourcesquid.co/india-atlas/materials/coconut/)[Coimbatore cluster](https://sourcesquid.co/india-atlas/clusters/coimbatore/)[Kochi cluster](https://sourcesquid.co/india-atlas/clusters/kochi/) ## Sources 1. [APEDA: National Programme for Organic Production, 8th edition (2024)](https://npop.apeda.gov.in/sites/default/files/2024-10/NPOP_Eight_Edition_2024.pdf)npop.apeda.gov.in/sites/default/files/2024-10/NPOP_Eight_Edition_2024.pdf 2. [APEDA: NPOP accredited certification bodies](https://npop.apeda.gov.in/NPOP-Certification-Bodies)npop.apeda.gov.in/NPOP-Certification-Bodies 3. [USDA AMS: International trade policies, India](https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification/international-trade/India)www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification/international-trade/India 4. [USDA AMS: Electronic organic import certificates](https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification/international-trade/Electronic-Organic-Import-Certificates)www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification/international-trade/Electronic-Organic-Import-Certificates 5. [USDA: Organic Integrity Database](https://organic.ams.usda.gov/integrity/)organic.ams.usda.gov/integrity 6. [Regulation (EU) 2018/848 on organic production and labelling](http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/848/oj)data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/848/oj 7. [Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325: recognised third countries and control bodies](http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2021/2325/oj)data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2021/2325/oj 8. [European Commission: organic trade and imports](https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/farming/organic-farming/trade_en)agriculture.ec.europa.eu/farming/organic-farming/trade_en 9. [European Commission proposal COM(2025) 780 amending Regulation (EU) 2018/848](https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2025/0780/COM_COM\(2025\)0780_EN.pdf)www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2025/0780/COM_COM(2025)0780_EN.pdf Checked on 28 September 2026. Rules and rates change: confirm against the official text before you act. This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Written by [Anirudh](https://sourcesquid.co/principals/) 15 years in sourcing, vendor development and quality across India and China. MBA in Operations and Supply Chain Management and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt. Founder of SourceSquid, with offices in Bengaluru and Ningbo. Organic certification: questions ## Straight answers. Anything else, ask us directly. A principal replies, not a bot. [anirudh@sourcesquid.co](mailto:anirudh@sourcesquid.co) ### Is NPOP certification accepted in the US? Not on its own. USDA ended its recognition agreement with APEDA on 11 January 2021, with a transition that closed on 12 July 2022. Organic products from India sold in the US must be certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent, and each shipment needs an electronic NOP Import Certificate. ### Is Indian organic produce recognised in the EU? Yes, for unprocessed plant products and seeds grown in India under NPOP, listed in Annex I of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325 with recognition until 31 December 2026. Processed products need certification by a control body the EU recognises for India and that product category. ### What is the difference between a scope certificate and a transaction certificate? Under NPOP, a scope certificate is issued to an operator each year and states the scope of its production, processing and handling. A transaction certificate is issued for each sale of organic product, after the certification body verifies the documents for that lot. ### How do I check a US organic certificate? Search the operation in USDA's Organic Integrity Database, which lists each certified operation's status, certifier and certified products. Then make sure an NOP Import Certificate is issued for your shipment and entered in the US customs system at import. ### Which lab tests should I ask for on organic ingredients from India? A multi-residue pesticide screen that includes ethylene oxide, microbiology, and the quality tests for the product, such as free fatty acids for oils or aflatoxins for nuts and spices, from a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025, in India by NABL. ## Keep reading [All guides](https://sourcesquid.co/intelligence/) * [Sourcing · 7 min**How to find manufacturers in India: a six-step method that works** How to find and vet manufacturers in India: start from the process, pick the right cluster, check GST and IEC records, run an RFQ, audit, and approve samples.](https://sourcesquid.co/intelligence/how-to-find-manufacturers-in-india/) * [Quality · 6 min**Factory audit checklist: how to judge a supplier on site** A factory audit checklist for India and China suppliers: legal checks, capacity, equipment, calibration, process control, traceability and CAPA, with scoring.](https://sourcesquid.co/intelligence/factory-audit-checklist/) * [Quality · 7 min**Pre-shipment inspection checklist: what your inspector should check** A pre-shipment inspection checklist for goods from India and China: timing, quantity, packing, AQL workmanship, measurements, on-site tests and the report.](https://sourcesquid.co/intelligence/pre-shipment-inspection-checklist/) Free sourcing teardown ## Organic claims, checked at source. Send the ingredient, your market and the supplier's certificates. We check scope, certifier recognition and test reports, and flag what is missing, free, in 48 hours. [Get a free teardown in 48 hours](https://sourcesquid.co/start/?from=guide-organic)[Talk to a principal](https://sourcesquid.co/contact/)