The Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), citing its Thai Trade Centre in Warsaw, reported on its website that the Gdańsk office of Poland’s Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection (IJHARS) had conducted a routine standards inspection.
It found that certification documents and a quality assessment covering 40 tonnes of jasmine rice imported from Thailand and labelled “organic” did not comply in certain respects with EU organic product standards.
The agency therefore temporarily halted the lot’s sale in Poland with immediate effect to prevent consumers from being misled.
No risk to consumer health was reported.
IJHARS is responsible for food quality control in Poland, inspecting labels, symbols, origin information and the quality of food products made domestically or imported from third countries.
It applies the same standards as those used for EU producers.
This is a routine process conducted regularly on imports from all sources and does not specifically target Thai products.
The Thai Trade Centre in Warsaw noted that IJHARS had previously barred more than 6,600 litres of white wine imported from South Africa from sale in Poland because the labelling lacked details about bottling.
The European Union has strict rules on organic production and the labelling of products as “organic”.
Producers in third countries must follow the same rules as EU producers, with robust control systems and detailed inspections throughout the supply chain.
Separate production rules also apply to different product groups, covering cultivation methods, production processes, farm controls, processing and traceability.
Thailand earns substantial revenue each year from organic rice exports.
Most shipments go to markets with strong purchasing power, health-conscious consumers and an emphasis on the environment, including the United States, Italy, Canada, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
“Overlooking the importance of regulations set by destination countries could affect imports of Thai products worth a substantial amount,” the Thai Trade Centre in Warsaw said.
A Ministry of Commerce report said the 40-tonne lot of jasmine rice from Thailand, labelled “organic”, could not be imported as organic because of a discrepancy in the draft bill of lading (B/L), which gave the estimated time of departure (ETD) as April 9.
The exporter applied to Bioagricert through the TRACES NT system for a Certificate of Inspection (COI) for the lot on April 7, and Bioagricert approved and issued the COI on April 8.
© Copyright 2025 The SSResource Media.
All rights reserved.