China’s New Organic Product Certification Rules in 2026: What Producers and Exporters Need to Know

China’s new organic product certification rules, effective January 1, 2026, significantly tighten requirements across certification, inspections, traceability, and post-certification supervision, marking a shift toward continuous regulatory oversight. Domestic producers, foreign-invested enterprises, and overseas exporters must now meet higher compliance, documentation, and transparency standards to maintain market access in China’s organic sector.

On January 1, 2026, China formally began implementing the 2025 Edition Interpretation of Implementation Rules for Organic Product Certification (hereinafter, the “rules” or the “new rules”), marking a significant update to the country’s regulatory framework governing organic food production and certification.

The new rules were issued by the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People’s Republic of China (CNCA) on December 16, 2025, and build on earlier regulatory revisions released in September 2025. Together, these updates reflect China’s continued efforts to strengthen oversight of the organic products market, improve traceability across the supply chain, and enhance the credibility of its organic product certification system amid rising consumer demand and growing market complexity.

The new implementation rules introduce clearer certification boundaries, higher competency requirements for certification bodies and personnel, and more detailed technical specifications covering each stage of the certification process, from document review and on-site inspections to sampling, testing, and post-certification supervision.

As enforcement tightens in 2026, proactive compliance planning will be essential to maintaining market access and protecting brand credibility in China’s increasingly regulated organic sector.

Overview of China’s new rules for organic poduct certification

Regulatory background and scope of application

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The latest edition of the rules for is intended to further standardize organic product certification activities in China and strengthen regulatory oversight across the entire organic supply chain. The rules are formulated under China’s core certification and accreditation framework, including the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Certification and Accreditation, the Measures for the Administration of Certification Bodies, and the Measures for the Administration of Organic Product Certification.

Together, these instruments establish the legal foundation for how organic products are certified, supervised, and managed in the Chinese market. In terms of scope, the rules apply broadly and extend beyond certification bodies to cover the full organic supply chain. Specifically, they regulate:

• Organic product certification activities conducted within China, as well as the organic production, processing, and trading activities of certification applicants and certified entities; and
• Imported organic products certified under Chinese organic standards, regardless of where production takes place.

As a result:

• Overseas producers and exporters seeking to market products as “organic” in China are generally subject to the same procedural and technical requirements as domestic producers; and
• Exceptions apply only where China has established specific international arrangements or mutual recognition mechanisms, under which alternative certification pathways may be permitted.

Stricter requirements for certification bodies

The new rules significantly raise the bar for certification bodies authorized to conduct organic product certification in China, with the aim of improving consistency, credibility, and risk control across the system.

Key requirements include:

• Mandatory approval by the CNCA, along with demonstrated technical capacity to conduct organic certification activities;
• Adequate inspection and testing capabilities, which may be provided through in-house facilities or contracted third-party laboratories, provided such laboratories hold valid China Metrology Accreditation (CMA) qualifications;
• Full compliance with GB/T 27065, which governs internal management systems and the conduct of certification activities, including impartiality and process control;
• Clear internal separation of functions, ensuring independence between certification decision-making, inspections, training, and any value-added services;
• Risk prevention and liability mechanisms, including insurance or financial reserves to address potential certification-related risks; and
• Use of digital and information systems to manage the full certification lifecycle, improve traceability, and support public information disclosure.

Personnel and auditor competency requirements

In parallel with institutional requirements, the rules impose tighter controls on the qualifications, independence, and workload of certification personnel, particularly inspectors.

Key changes include:

• Minimum education and professional background requirements for certification personnel, covering agriculture, food, processing technologies, food safety, and certification techniques;
• Mandatory registration of organic product inspectors with designated national registration bodies;
• Restrictions on inspector assignment, including mandatory rotation rules that prevent the same inspector from auditing the same production or processing site for more than three consecutive certification years;
• Defined workload limits and training requirements, ensuring inspectors have sufficient time for preparation, on-site work, reporting, and ongoing competency development; and
• Enhanced responsibility for certification quality managers, who must be senior-level personnel with authority over risk control and certification quality.

Certification basis

The certification basis for organic products in China is still GB/T 19630 – Organic Products: Requirements for Production, Processing, Labeling, and Management Systems. This national standard serves both as the core reference for certification bodies conducting organic product certification and the operational standard that producers, processors, and operators must follow when carrying out organic production and related activities.

GB/T 19630 was first issued in 2005 and has since undergone two revisions, in 2011 and 2019. The current effective version is GB/T 19630–2019, which was released on August 30, 2019, and came into force on January 1, 2020.

Application prodcedure and requirements

Eligibility to apply

The new rules introduce clearer and stricter eligibility thresholds for entities seeking organic product certification, placing greater emphasis on legal compliance, ownership, and past conduct.

To be eligible, applicants must meet the following conditions:

• Hold legal ownership of the certified products, including the right to control production, use, sale, and disposal.
• Possess all required licenses and regulatory approvals relevant to production, processing, or trading activities.
• Have established and implemented a management system compliant with GB/T 19630, and have operated it effectively for more than three months.
• Apply only for products included in China’s Organic Product Certification Catalogue, which is updated periodically.
• Have not had their organic product certification certificate or organic conversion certification certificate revoked by a certification body for any serious violations within the past five years, including:
  • Submission of false or misleading information;
  • Use or detection of prohibited substances;
  • Certification scope abuse (e.g. overproduction, off-site processing); and
  • Major product quality or food safety incidents.
• Have not had its organic product certification certificate or organic conversion certification certificate revoked by a certification body for any other reason within the past year.
• Pass corporate credit screening, with applicants excluded if listed as “seriously dishonest” on national credit platforms.

Application and documentation requirements

Applicants must submit a comprehensive documentation package that enables certification bodies to assess both technical compliance and management capacity.

Core documentation includes:

• Production and processing history, covering at least the past three years;
• Management manuals and operating procedures aligned with GB/T 19630;
• Environmental quality monitoring reports, covering soil, water, air, and processing environments; and
• Annual production plans, yield calculations, and sales records, used to verify output consistency and traceability.

Additional documentation is required for more complex business models, including:

• Contract manufacturing arrangements, supported by written agreements and role allocation;
• Multi-site operations, including production bases, processing facilities, warehouses, and repackaging locations; and
• Imported products, with documentation covering overseas production conditions, environmental compliance, and testing arrangements.

Certification decision and non-approval scenarios

Following completion of inspections, testing, and document review, certification bodies make a consolidated certification decision based on overall compliance with the rules and applicable standards. Certification may still be granted where non-conformities are identified, provided that corrective actions are completed within the prescribed timeframe and successfully verified.

However, the new rules clearly enumerate circumstances under which certification must be denied. These include the detection of prohibited substances, production or processing activities conducted outside the approved certification scope, duplicate certification of the same product batch by multiple certification bodies, and the applicant’s inclusion on national corporate credit blacklists.

Serious integrity issues (such as falsified documentation or deliberate concealment of material information) may also result in automatic rejection.

Applicants that disagree with a certification decision may file an appeal with the certification body within ten days of receiving the decision. Certification bodies are required to complete the appeal review within 30 days and provide a written response. Where applicants believe their lawful rights have been materially infringed, they may escalate complaints directly to certification regulators.

See also: Capitalizing on China’s Organic Boom: Certification, Trends, and Opportunities

Tightened post-certification supervision

The rules place particular emphasis on post-certification supervision, reflecting regulators’ intent to move beyond one-off approval toward continuous compliance oversight.

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Certified entities are subject to at least one on-site inspection annually, with additional inspections required where products have multiple production cycles within a single certification period. Certification bodies must also conduct unannounced inspections based on risk assessments, covering a minimum of five percent of all certified entities each year. For entities that hold certification but do not use the organic logo, the unannounced inspection ratio rises to at least ten percent, accompanied by mandatory product sampling.

In parallel, products already circulating in the market are subject to ongoing sampling and testing to ensure continued compliance. Importantly, certificates issued under the previous regulatory framework are not grandfathered: post-certification supervision conducted from 2026 onward must comply fully with the new rules.

What this means for producers, exporters, and foreign brands

Collectively, the new organic product certification rules raise the compliance threshold for entering and remaining in China’s organic market. Certification now demands greater transparency across production, processing, logistics, and sales, with fewer regulatory gray areas.

For exporters and foreign brands, the implications are particularly significant. Imported organic food must align closely with China’s certification logic, contract manufacturing arrangements face increased disclosure and inspection requirements, and cross-border e-commerce and bulk export models must ensure traceability continuity from origin to sale.

Early-stage compliance planning, internal audits, and careful selection of certification partners will be critical for managing regulatory risk.

Conclusion

China’s new organic product certification rules mark for organic product certification a clear transition from formalistic certification toward continuous regulatory supervision. Organic certification in China is no longer a static label but an ongoing compliance system subject to routine verification, data reconciliation, and enforcement.

Businesses operating in or supplying China’s organic market should respond accordingly by strengthening internal controls, improving documentation discipline, and aligning early with approved certification bodies. Those that do so will be better positioned to navigate tighter enforcement conditions in 2026 and beyond.

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