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1. A product may be imported from a third country for the purpose of placing that product on the market within the Union as an organic product or as an in-conversion product, provided that the following three conditions are met:

(a) the product is a product as referred to in Article 2(1);

(b) one of the following applies:

(i) the product complies with Chapters II, III and IV of this Regulation, and all operators and groups of operators referred to in Article 36, including exporters in the third country concerned, have been subject to controls by control authorities or control bodies recognised in accordance with Article 46, and those authorities or bodies have provided all such operators, groups of operators and exporters with a certificate confirming that they comply with this Regulation;

(ii) in cases where the product comes from a third country which is recognised in accordance with Article 47, that product complies with the conditions laid down in the relevant trade agreement; or (iii) in cases where the product comes from a third country which is recognised in accordance with Article 48, that product complies with the equivalent production and control rules of that third country and is imported with a certificate of inspection confirming this compliance that was issued by the competent authorities, control authorities or control bodies of that third country; and (c) the operators in third countries are able at any time to provide the importers and the national authorities in the Union and in those third countries with information allowing the identification of the operators that are their suppliers and the control authorities or control bodies of those suppliers, with a view to ensuring the traceability of the organic or in-conversion product concerned. That information shall also be made available to the control authorities or control bodies of the importers.

2. The Commission may, in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 24(9), grant specific authorisations for the use of products and substances in third countries and in the outermost regions of the Union, taking into account differences in the ecological balance in plant or animal production, specific climatic conditions, traditions and local conditions in those areas. Such specific authorisations may be granted for a renewable period of two years and shall be subject to the principles laid down in Chapter II and to the criteria set out in Article 24(3) and (6).

3. When providing for the criteria for determining whether a situation qualifies as catastrophic circumstances, and when laying down specific rules on how to deal with such circumstances in accordance with Article 22, the Commission shall take into account differences in the ecological balance, climate and local conditions in third countries and in the outermost regions of the Union.

4. The Commission shall adopt implementing acts to lay down specific rules concerning the content of the certificates referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1, the procedure to be followed for their issuance, their verification and the technical means by which the certificate is issued, in particular as regards the role of competent authorities, control authorities and control bodies, ensuring the traceability and compliance of imported products intended to be placed on the Union market as organic products or as in-conversion products as referred to in paragraph 1. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 55(2).

5. Compliance with the conditions and measures for the import of organic products and in-conversion products referred to in paragraph 1 into the Union shall be ascertained at border control posts, in accordance with Article 47(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625. The frequency of the physical checks referred to in Article 49(2) of that Regulation shall depend on the likelihood of non-compliance as defined in point (57) of Article 3 of this Regulation.