Standards

The Soil Association organic standards cover both the EC regulations and the Compendium of UK Organic Standards. In many cases our standards are more robust than those set by EU regulations - in fact, no system of farming has higher levels of animal welfare standards than organic farms working to our standards.

Soil Association organic standards 2009 (implemented from 19 April 2009)

• Full set of standards for producers [PDF, 4.5MB]
• Full set of standards for processors [PDF, 2.7MB]

• Annex 1 exceptional permissions [PDF, 159KB]
• Annex 2 equivalence [PDF, 289KB]

For your convenience the following standards have been grouped by business type:

• Food and drink processing standards [PDF, 1.8MB]
• Health and beauty standards [PDF, 1.8MB]
• Textile standards [PDF, 1.9MB]
• Aquaculture industry standards [PDF, 717KB]
• Livestock markets standards [PDF, 222KB]
• Woodland standards [PDF, 378KB]
• Ethical trade standards [PDF, 335KB]

Guide to meeting the Soil Association packaging standards

• Reduce, re-use, recycle - a guide to minimising the environmental impact of packaging [PDF, 1MB]

National and European organic regulations

• EC regulations (European Commission website)
• Compendium of UK organic standards (Defra website)
   

News and updates

• Keep up-to-date with our very latest standards in Certification News
   

Consultations - have your say

Our standards are set by independent committees made up of Soil Association licensees, industry representatives and consumers. We'll consult you on any changes that will affect your business and the wider industry. In this way, Soil Association organic standards deal with real issues, while maintaining the integrity we've all worked hard to establish. Find out more by visiting our consultations pages:

• Consultations