7.1 Products as specified in paragraph 1.1 which are imported may be marketed only where the competent authority or designated body in the exporting country has issued a certificate of inspection stating that the lot designated in the certificate was obtained within a system of production, preparation, marketing and inspection applying at least the rules provided for in all sections and annexes of these guidelines and satisfy the decision on equivalency referred to under 7.4.

7.2 The certificate referred to in paragraph 7.1 above should accompany the goods, in the original copy, to the premises of the first consignee; thereafter the importer should keep the transactional certificate for not less than two years for inspection/audit purposes.

7.3 The authenticity of the product should be maintained after import through to the consumer. If imports of organic products are not in conformity with the requirements of these guidelines due to treatment required by national regulations for quarantine purposes that is not in conformity with these guidelines they loose their organic status.

7.4 An importing country may:

• (a) require detailed information, including reports established by independent experts mutually agreed between competent authorities of the exporting and importing countries, on the measures applied in the exporting country to enable it to make judgements and decisions on equivalency with its own rules provided that these rules of the importing countriy are in conformity with meet the requirements of these guidelines, and/or
• (b) arrange together with the exporting country for site visits to examine the rules of production and preparation, and the inspection/certification measures including production and preparation itself as applied in the exporting country.
• (c) require, in order to avoid any confusion to the consumer, that the product is labelled in accordance with the labelling requirements applied, in accordance with the provisions of section 3, in the importing country for the products concerned.