The term "inputs" covers products used in agricultural production of plants, animals and foodstuffs, including:

  • fertilizers,

  • crop protection products,

  • cleaning and disinfection products,

  • oenological inputs,

  • additives and auxiliaries for food and feed.

What inputs can be used in Organic Agriculture ?

By definition, inputs are products that are used in the manufacturing process of a product that is certified as organic, but which are not themselves certified as organic.

These products and substances therefore serve as a "toolbox" for producers when it is no longer possible to use only naturally available resources linked to the management system or certified ingredients and products.

What about the regulations concerning the composition of these inputs ?

In order to be suitable for use in Organic Farming according to the various existing organic regulations, inputs must meet the marketing requirements specific to the country of sale and their category.

Inputs used in organic farming must not be produced by or from GMOs and must be based exclusively on raw materials listed as compliant.

Depending on the regulations and the type of input, nanomaterials and ionising radiation may also be prohibited.

In most cases, the raw materials used to manufacture an input do not need to be certified organic, but they must be of natural, non-synthetic origin.

If necessary, some synthetic raw materials may be allowed, but these are limited and must meet environmental criteria wherever possible.

How do I know if an input is suitable for Organic Farming ?

It can be identified by the words "product suitable for use in Organic Farming" on product labels and technical data sheets.

As the logo for Organic Farming is exclusively for simple or processed products certified as organic, inputs cannot benefit from it.

The benefits of control by Ecocert

For more than 30 years, Ecocert has developed, and continues to develop, solid knowledge of Organic Agriculture in order to offer the best service in terms of quality and expertise on several organic regulations EU (European), NOP (American), JAS (Japanese) but also COR (Canadian), GB (Chinese), BR (Brazilian), NPOP (Indian)...

As a world leader, Ecocert's Inputs service offers a guarantee to manufacturers and helps secure the global production and distribution chain.

As the mention of use for Organic Farming of an input is under the responsibility of the supplier, our services provide:

  • A guarantee on the conformity of the input they put on the market

  • A guarantee of security for distributors and producers using this input, by making it easier to obtain their certification

Ecocert X services

Ecocert delivers two types of services allowing the validation of inputs according to several regulations (EU, NOP, JAS, COR, etc.):

  • Documentary Review

  • Inputs Attestation

Documentary Review consists of the verification of product formulas, ingredients and labels. If the input is compliant, it is listed in our database www.inputs.bio.

Inputs Attestation also starts with a document review stage, followed by an audit to verify the authenticity of the declaration made, the quality system and the traceability of the company for all stages of the input's manufacture.

Following this complete control, the compliant input is listed as "attested" on our database, and the manufacturer can use our "Approved by Ecocert" logo on its commercial documents.

You can find on our online database www.inputs.bio the inputs verified and attested by Ecocert, which includes more than 10,000 validated UAB references for more than 1100 companies worldwide.

Contact us !

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What is an input ?
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