Importing into the EU: Organic e-COI, TRACES & RASFF Reality

This page covers EU rules. It does not cover the United Kingdom. Every regulatory line carries the date its source was read, and the page is part of our guide to importing coconut sugar from Indonesia, market by market.

1. The EU steps for coconut sugar

Four steps, each with the rule that applies and who acts on it.

1. Entry under risk-based controls.

   Goods outside the border-control-post categories are controlled “regularly, on a risk basis and with appropriate frequency” (EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2017/625 Art. 44(1), as read 1 November 2026). The EU’s list of goods under temporarily increased controls has no entry for coconut sugar or for CN 1701 or 1702; its only entry for Indonesia is nutmeg, for aflatoxins (EUR-Lex, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1793, consolidated text of 30 June 2026, as read 1 November 2026).

2. Organic consignments: a certificate of inspection.

   The exporter’s recognised control body issues it in TRACES for every consignment, before the consignment leaves the country of export (EUR-Lex, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2306 Art. 4(1), consolidated text of 2 December 2024, as read 1 November 2026). Compliance is checked at the border control post (EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2018/848 Art. 45(5), consolidated text of 25 March 2025, as read 1 November 2026). Section 2 sets out the flow.

3. Labels in the buyer’s language.

   Mandatory food information must appear “in a language easily understood by the consumers of the Member States where a food is marketed”, and Annex II allergens must be declared (EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 Art. 15(1) and Art. 9(1)(c), as read 1 November 2026). The buyer is responsible for label rules in its market.

4. Duty and clearance.

   The duty is set per tariff line (section 4). Import clearance and duties are always the buyer’s responsibility. No clearance guarantee is given.

2. Organic paperwork per consignment: the certificate of inspection (e-COI) in TRACES

This is the importer’s process for certified organic product, step by step: who issues what, when, and in which system. It applies only where the product is imported and sold as organic.

3. RASFF: what it records for coconut sugar

RASFF is the EU’s system for food safety authorities to exchange information on risks from the food chain, under Article 50 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 (European Commission, Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, as read 1 November 2026). Its public RASFF Window covers notifications from 2020 onward and shows no brands or business operators.

Method. A search of the public RASFF Window for “coconut sugar”, run on 1 November 2026, returns seven notifications from 2020 onward whose subject names coconut sugar (RASFF Window, searched 1 November 2026).

Source: RASFF Window, searched 1 November 2026.

Note on the United Kingdom row: notified while the United Kingdom was still an EU member state. The UK left the EU when the Withdrawal Agreement entered into force, on 1 February 2020 (EUR-Lex, Withdrawal Agreement and the notice of its entry into force, OJ L 29 of 31 January 2020, as read 1 November 2026).

The pattern. Two hazards recur: sulphites, three times, and gluten, three times. One notification concerned insect fragments. None concerned a heavy metal, a pesticide or a micro-organism, and none was a border rejection; each was an alert or an information notification.

Where we stand. No sulphiting agent is used at any stage, from sap collection to packing. Sulphite is tested on every lot. No gluten-containing cereals are handled at the factory. Gluten is not tested at present.

4. Duty and GSP

For CN 1702 90 95, the EU tariff line “Other” under heading 1702 90, TARIC shows a third-country duty of “0.40 EUR / 100 kg/net/%sacchar” (TARIC, reference date 1 November 2026, as read 1 November 2026). The unit means 0.40 euro for every 100 kilograms net, multiplied by the sucrose content of the goods in percent. For goods originating in Indonesia, TARIC’s origin view shows this third-country duty as the duty that applies, with no preferential rate (TARIC, origin Indonesia, reference date 1 November 2026, as read 1 November 2026).

Coconut sugar ships under HS 1702.90. Which CN line applies to your consignment is confirmed by your customs broker before you quote a landed price. Import clearance and duties are always the buyer’s responsibility. No clearance guarantee is given.

Questions EU importers ask