I 
(Legislative acts) 
REGUL ATIONS 
REGUL ATION (EU) 2020/1693 OF THE EUR OPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 
of 11 November 2020 
amending Regulation (EU) 2018/848 on organic production and labelling of organic products as 
regards its date of application and certain other dates referred to in that Regulation 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUR OPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUR OPEAN UNION, 
Havi ng regar d to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(2) thereof, 
Havi ng regar d to the proposal from the European Commission, 
After transmission of the draf t legislative act to the national parliaments, 
After consulting the European Economic and Social Committee, 
Acting in accordance with the ordinar y legislative procedure (1), 
Whereas: 
(1) Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2), which entered into force on 
17 June 2018, establishes a new regulator y framew ork for organic production. In order to ensure a smooth 
transition from the old regulatory framework to the new one, that Regulation provid es for a date of application of 
1 Januar y 2021. 
(2) On 30 Januar y 2020, the World Health Org anization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a ‘public health emerge ncy of 
internati onal concer n’ and, on 11 March 2020, character ised it as a pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to 
extraordinar y circumstances that require substantial efforts by the organic sector that could not reasonably have 
been anticipated at the time of adop tion of Regulation (EU) 2018/848. 
(3) The COVID-19 pandemic and the related public health crisis present an unprecedented challenge to the Member 
State s and puts a heavy burden on organic operat ors (‘operators’). Operato rs thus concentrat e their efforts on 
maintaining organic production and trade flows and cannot at the same time prepare themselves for the entr y into 
application of the new regulatory framework under Regulation (EU) 2018/848. Hence, it is highly likely that 
Member States and operators will not be in a position to ensure the proper implementation and application of that 
Regulation from 1 Januar y 2021, as originally envi saged. 
(4) In order to ensure the smooth functioning of the organic sector , to provide legal certainty and to avoid potential 
mark et disruption, it is necessar y to defer the date of application of Regulation (EU) 2018/848 and certain other 
date s referred to in that Regulation that are derived from that date. 
(1)Position of the European Parliament of 8 October 2020 (not yet published in the Official Jour nal) and decision of the Council of 
19 October 2020. 
(2)Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of 
organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 1). EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union 13.11.2020                                                                                                                                         L 381/1   (5) Taking into account the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related public health crisis, its epidemiological 
development, as well as the additional resources required in the Member States and by operators, it is appropr iate to 
defer the date of application of Regulation (EU) 2018/848 by one year. 
(6) Several date s linked to derogations , repor ts or empo werments granted to the Commission to end or extend 
derogat ions, derive directly from the date of application of Regulation (EU) 2018/848. Thus, it is also appropr iate 
to defe r those dates by one year. The respective dates were set taking into account the time necessar y for operat ors 
to adap t to the ending of derog ations, or for Member States and the Commission to collect sufficient information 
on the availability of certain inputs for which derogations were grant ed, or for the Commission to present a repor t 
to the European Parliament and to the Council and to prepare a legislative proposal or delegat ed acts. 
(7) The COVID-19 pandemic and the relat ed public health crisis also present an unp recedented challenge to third 
countr ies and for operators based in third countr ies. Consequently , for third countr ies that have been recognised as 
equivalent under Article 33(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (3), it is appropr iate to extend the date of 
expir y of their recognition by one year to 31 December 2026 so that such third countr ies have enough time to 
change their status, either by concluding a trade agreement with the Union or through full compl iance by their 
operat ors with Regulation (EU) 2018/848, without unnecessar y trade disruptions for organic products. 
(8) Similarly , the date of expir y of the recognition of control author ities and control bodies in third countr ies grant ed 
under Article 33(3) of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 should be exte nded by one year to 31 December 2024 to give 
those control author ities and control bodies and their certified operators in third countr ies sufficient time to 
overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to prepare for the new regulatory framew ork established by 
Regulation (EU) 2018/848. 
(9) Since the objectives of this Regulation, in particular to ensure the smooth functioning of the organic sector , to 
provid e legal certainty and to avoid poten tial mark et disruption due to the extraordinar y circumstances caused by 
the COVID-19 pandemic, cannot be sufficiently achi eved by the Member State s but can rather , by reason of the 
effects of the action, be bette r achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the 
principle of subsidiar ity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). In accordance with the 
principle of propor tionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessar y in order 
to achi eve those objectives. 
(10) In view of the COVID-19 pandemic which has led to extraordinar y circumstances with respect to orga nic production 
which require immediate action, it is considered to be appropr iate to provide for an excep tion to the eight-week 
period refer red to in Article 4 of Prot ocol No 1 on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union, annexe d 
to the TEU, to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and to the Treaty establishing the European 
Atomic Energy Community . 
(11) In view of the overriding need to immediately ensure legal certainty for the organic sector in the current 
circumstances, this Regulation should enter into force as a matte r of urgency on the day followi ng that of its 
publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, 
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGUL ATION: 
Article 1 
Regulation (EU) 2018/848 is amended as follo ws: 
(1) in Article 29(4), the date ‘31 December 2024’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2025’; 
(2) in the second subparagraph of Article 48(1), the date ‘31 December 2025’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2026’; 
(3) in Article 49, the date ‘31 December 2021’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2022’; 
(3)Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing 
Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 (OJ L 189, 20.7.2007, p. 1). EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union L 381/2                                                                                                                                         13.11.2020   (4) Article 53 is amended as follo ws: 
(a) in paragraph 1, the date ‘31 December 2035’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2036’; 
(b) paragraph 2 is amended as follows: 
(i) in the introduct ory part, the date ‘1 Januar y 2028’ is replaced by ‘1 Januar y 2029’; 
(ii) in point (a), the date ‘31 December 2035’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2036’; 
(c) in paragraph 3, the date ‘1 Januar y 2026’ is replaced by ‘1 Januar y 2027’; 
(d) in paragraph 4, the date ‘1 Januar y 2025’ is replaced by ‘1 Januar y 2026’ and the date ‘31 December 2025’ is 
replaced by ‘31 December 2026’; 
(e) in the introductor y part of the first subparagraph of paragraph 7, the date ‘31 December 2025’ is replaced by 
‘31 December 2026’; 
(5) in Article 57(1), the date ‘31 December 2023’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2024’; 
(6) in Article 60, the date ‘1 Januar y 2021’ is replaced by ‘1 Januar y 2022’; 
(7) in Article 61, the second paragraph is replaced by the following: 
‘It shall apply from 1 Januar y 2022.’; 
(8) Annex II is amended as follows: 
(a) in Part I, point 1.5 is amended as follo ws: 
(i) in the second paragraph, the date ‘31 December 2030’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2031’; 
(ii) in the third paragraph, the date ‘31 December 2025’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2026’; 
(b) Part II is amended as follo ws: 
(i) in point (a) of point 1.9.1.1, the date ‘1 Januar y 2023’ is replaced by ‘1 Januar y 2024’; 
(ii) in point (a) of point 1.9.2.1, the date ‘1 Januar y 2023’ is replaced by ‘1 Januar y 2024’; 
(iii) in the introduct ory part of point (c) of point 1.9.3.1, the date ‘31 December 2025’ is replaced by  
‘31 December 2026’; 
(iv) in the introduct ory part of point (c) of point 1.9.4.2, the date ‘31 December 2025’ is replaced by 
‘31 December 2026’; 
(c) in Part III, in the second paragraph of point 3.1.2.1, the date ‘1 Januar y 2021’ is replaced by ‘1 Januar y 2022’; 
(d) in Part VII, in point 1.1, the date ‘31 December 2023’ is replaced by ‘31 December 2024’. 
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 11 November 2020. 
For the Europ ean Parliament 
The President 
D. M. SASSOLI For the Council 
The President 
M. ROTH     EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union 13.11.2020                                                                                                                                         L 381/3