Maturity Regulation (EU) 2018/848 · Organic production and labelling compliance
Your organic practices and labelling, measured against Regulation 2018/848 and turned into a costed action plan.
10 themes, a 5-level scale. And the action that moves each level to the next.
The framework’s 10 themes, already written from L1 to L5. One company, one business unit, or 300 at once.
Maturity Regulation (EU) 2018/848 · Organic production and labelling compliance
10 themes, 5-level scale.
Nordhavn Industries
53 / 100
They measure their maturity with Datamensio
An example
This could be your situation.
Take one company as an example: three sites, three spreadsheets, no shared answer.
Nobody can consolidate.
Nordhavn Industries, 2,400 people in Hamburg, Lyon and Porto. A client asks where the group stands. Each site answers in its own spreadsheet, with its own scales.
Three weeks, a single base.
One Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council, applicable since 1 January 2022 assessment launched across all three sites at once, from the managers’ interview notes. The framework was already written, its 10 themes and levels L1 to L5 too.
Two costs avoided before being committed.
A score of 53 out of 100, with the gap concentrated on three themes. The AI companion spotted that two actions duplicated those of another audit. The committee report took one sentence to request.
What it saved them
- 3sites measured on the same base, instead of three questionnaires to reconcile
- 2duplicate actions caught before the spend
- 1committee report, with no manual rework
These figures are an example. They could be yours.
The standard imposes processes. Datamensio says where you stand.
01
The framework is already written
Themes, questions and levels L1 to L5, all written. You do not start from an empty spreadsheet.
02
The score lands the same day
Online, by self-assessment link or in interview. Theme by theme, comparable over time.
03
The gap becomes a costed plan
Every step up carries its action. The AI prioritises on expected effect, not on the order of the standard.
04
Progress can be demonstrated
Campaign after campaign, against your target and against your own past. That is what your board asks for.
The maturity scale
One level, the next, and the action that links the two.
It is this mechanism, one level, the level above, and the action that links the two, that turns a finding into a trajectory.
Are your suppliers’ organic certificates checked and monitored before every receipt of raw material?
- N1
No organised checking. Certificates are requested only when the control body asks for them.
- N2
Certificates are collected when the supplier account is opened and filed, without systematic checking of their validity or the product scope covered.
- N3
The certificate is checked in TRACES NT before receipt, with the expiry date and relevant product line verified. Gaps are logged.
- N4
The check is built into the receiving process, with an automated block on the batch if the certificate is expired or out of scope, and an automatic alert before expiry.
- N5
The process is steered through indicators (block rate, resolution times), reviewed after every inspection or supplier incident, and extended to subcontractors and storage providers.
Action to move from L2 to L3
Make checking the certificate in TRACES NT a mandatory control point in the receiving procedure, with the expiry date and product scope recorded on the goods-in note, and review any gaps at the monthly quality review.
« With Datamensio, we meet our objectives far more efficiently. The ERDF inspection services and our supervising ministry particularly appreciated an approach that gives them reliable data. »
Director, CCI 94CCI Île-de-France
« We believe this is the most suitable solution to scale our transformation project and measure impact according to our needs. »
Maja SucekChief Operating Officer, Interreg Danube
Rarely on its own
Frameworks combine. Put several together to cover your business, or have the AI write yours.
Take your first measurement
What this framework covers
Regulation (EU) 2018/848 has replaced Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 since 1 January 2022. It covers the whole chain: crop production, livestock, aquaculture, processing, distribution, importation. It requires registration with a competent authority, at least annual inspection by a delegated control body, separation of organic and non-organic production, documentary traceability of inputs and batches, and strict labelling rules: the control body’s code number, the EU organic logo, and the place of farming of the agricultural raw materials.
In practice, the difficulty is not knowing the text but holding the evidence over time, across multiple sites and suppliers. Are your suppliers’ certificates checked on receipt in TRACES NT, or filed once a year? Are your conversion, rotation and batch separation rules written down at workshop level, or do they rest on two people’s memory? Do your label mock-ups follow a formal validation process before printing, including for recipe or supplier changes?
The regulation has tightened several points that are often poorly embedded. Groups of operators are now governed by an internal control system. The import equivalence regime has given way to a compliance regime, with an electronic certificate of inspection. Cases of unauthorised substances are subject to a defined investigation procedure, not local judgement. One common confusion is worth clearing up: neither "organic farming" wording nor the EU logo are taste or local-provenance quality labels, they are regulated claims backed by a controlled production method.
A compliance audit ends in a gap or a pass, and its result is binary at the date of the inspection. The maturity assessment answers a different question: what level of control does each practice sit at, and what specific action moves it up a level. An operator can be certified while relying on manual, non-repeatable checks, or have a robust set-up at one site and a fragile one at another. The score per theme and the benchmark across business units make that gap visible before it turns into a non-conformity.
The framework is ready to use in Datamensio and remains adaptable. The AI adjusts the themes, rephrases the questions to fit your sector (arable, livestock, processing, importing) and refines the levels using the CMMI method. It can also build a tailored version from your own documents: control plan, internal specification, control body reports.
Reference standard: Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council, applicable since 1 January 2022
The themes assessed
Registration and relationship with the control body
Activity declaration to the competent authority, notified scope, follow-up on inspection reports, handling of corrective action requests, management of scope changes.
Crop production and conversion
Conversion periods and supporting evidence, rotation and soil fertility, organic seeds and reproductive material, derogations, crop protection with authorised substances.
Livestock and aquaculture production
Animal origin, feed and share of organic raw materials, outdoor access and stocking densities, prophylaxis and veterinary treatments, husbandry records.
Inputs and authorised products
Checking the implementing regulation’s annexes, input technical sheets, fertilisers and soil improvers, cleaning and disinfection products, additives and processing aids.
Flow separation and mix prevention
Separation in time or space, cleaning plan between production runs, storage and batch identification, transport, management of mixed lines.
Traceability and mass balance
Upstream and downstream traceability by batch, input output consistency, quantitative reconciliation over the year, document retention, traceability and extraction tests.
Suppliers, procurement and imports
Collecting and checking certificates in TRACES NT, contracts and specifications, electronic certificates of inspection on import, subcontractor assessment.
Labelling and commercial communication
Mandatory claims, control body code number, EU organic logo, place of farming of raw materials, claims and marketing materials, mock-up validation process.
Unauthorised substances and suspicion management
Suspicion procedure, suspension of marketing, investigation and declassification, informing the control body and customers, analytical surveillance plan.
Skills, governance and improvement
Roles and responsibilities, training for production and logistics teams, internal audits or internal control system for groups of operators, indicators, gap review and follow-up over time.
A short version of the framework is available for the online self-assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Does this assessment replace my control body’s inspection?
No. Organic certification falls to a competent authority or delegated control body, the only party authorised to issue the certificate. The assessment measures the maturity of your practices and prepares for the inspection by identifying gaps before the visit.
What is the difference between a compliance audit and a maturity assessment?
An audit ends in a pass or a gap on a given date. The assessment places each practice on a progressive scale and points to the action that moves it up a level. The two work together: the assessment prepares, the audit confirms.
How long does the assessment take?
The short version can be completed in a single session by a quality manager. The full version, run collaboratively, typically takes one to two weeks, most of the time spent gathering evidence from production, logistics and procurement.
Does the framework cover farming, processing and importing alike?
Yes, the themes follow the structure of the regulation, which applies to all operators. Depending on your activity, some themes fall outside your scope and can be disabled or weighted differently.
Can the framework be adapted to our internal specification?
Yes. You can change the questions, levels and themes, or have the AI build a tailored version from your own documents: control plan, private specification, control body reports. You keep ownership of the framework.
How do you compare several sites or entities?
Each site is assessed against the same framework, which makes theme scores comparable across business units and over time. A cross-cutting roadmap consolidates the assessments and groups common actions instead of duplicating them.
Is the action plan costed?
Every gap between the score and the target generates an action. The service catalogue offers a solution for each action, with cost, timeframe and expected impact on the score. The AI then groups these actions into a prioritised roadmap.
Where is the data hosted?
In France, with OVH, backed up at Scaleway. No transfer outside the European Union. The AI models used can be selected, including from European providers.