What requirements must herbs and spices meet to be allowed on the European market?

You need to meet multiple requirements to enter the European market. Buyers may have extra demands and ask for certificates. The main requirements for herbs and spices are about food safety and consumer health. Sustainability has also become more important. It is important to follow market developments so you are prepared for new rules and buyer demands.

1. What are mandatory requirements for spices and herbs?

Most mandatory requirements for importing herbs and spices (and food in general) are related to food safety. The European Commission Department for Health and Food Safety is responsible for the European Union’s policy and for monitoring the implementation of related laws.

Official food controls

Food imported into the European Union (EU) is subject to official food controls. These controls include regular inspections that can be carried out at import (at the border) or later on, once the food is in the EU (such as at the importer’s premises). They check whether the products meet the legal requirements.

An important element of this legislation is that “all food businesses outside Europe, after primary production, must put in place, implement and maintain a procedure based on HACCP principles.” You do not have to guarantee this with certificates or official controls. However, if your company want to become a successful supplier to the European market, having a HACCP plan is an important part of your quality management systems. 

Non-compliance with European food legislation is reported via the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). In 2025, 279 issues with spices and herbs were reported in the RASFF. This was slightly higher than the 275 issues reported in 2024. The most common issue was exceeding the Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for pesticides. The second most common issue was plant toxins, and the third was microbiological and mycotoxins contamination.

Source: GloballyCool (April 2026)

The main developments visible from Figure 1 can be explained as follows: 

• The previous rise in issues relating to pesticide residue is mainly due to problems with shipments of cumin from India and black pepper from Vietnam. Cumin from India has been subject to stricter conditions since 2023, with an increased testing frequency. This led to a high number of interceptions, which increased the frequency of checks to 30% in January 2025. 
• The rise in issues relating to plant toxins is due to issues with oregano from Türkiye and cumin from Türkiye and India. These three product-origins are also subject to increased testing. 

Non-compliance leads to stricter conditions

If imports of a certain product from a specific country repeatedly show non-compliance with European food legislation, there will be more official border checks. These products are listed in Annex 1 of the regulations on the temporary increase of official controls and emergency measures. One example is spice mixes from Pakistan, which are often checked due to their increased risk of aflatoxins (aflatoxins come from mould and therefore are part of the mycotoxins group in Figure 1). 

Table 1 lists all the herbs and spices that are subject to temporary increases in official controls at entry to the European Union, including the relevant hazards and origins. Origin or ‘country of origin’ means: 

• The country where goods come from, were grown or harvested (for plant toxins and pesticide risks).
• The country where goods were produced, manufactured or packed (relevant for microbiological risks like salmonella).

The last column in Table 1, ‘notes’ gives more information on specific measures, as they tend to change over time due to changes in risk perceptions. For example, in 2024/2025, spice mixes from Pakistan were checked less often (down to 30% from 50%). This is due to improved compliance records and, as a result, fewer food-safety risks. Another recent change happened in Ethiopia. In August 2025, Ethiopia’s spices were moved from the strict regime (Table 2) to the more moderate regime in Table 1. 

Table 1: Herbs and spices subject to temporary increases in official checks in the EU (frequency of identity and physical checks, in %), as of 12/08/2025

Source: GloballyCool (March 2026), based on EUR-Lex

Another table in EU Regulation 2019/1793 lists products that have special import conditions because of contamination risks. Annex 2 gives special import conditions for food shipments that: 

• Consist of products that come from multiple origin countries, or 
• Contain two or more ingredients from Table 2 (below), and the ingredients make up more than 20% of the total product. 

For these consignments, the frequency of identity and physical checks as a percentage is applied to ensure that contamination hazards remain under control. The import conditions for the products in Annex 2 (Table 2 below) are stricter than for the products of Annex 1. 

Table 2: Spices and herbs subject to special conditions for import to the EU (frequency of identity and physical checks, in %)

Source: GloballyCool (March 2026), based on EUR-Lex

Recent changes in frequencies include the following: 

• Cumin from Türkiye has been included in this regime since January 2025, with a testing frequency of 30% for Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids. This frequency was further increased to 50% in August 2025. 
• The testing frequency for nutmeg from Indonesia was increased to 50% in July 2024 (previously 30%). 
• The rules for spices from Ethiopia have been more relaxed since August 2025. This is in line with the July 2024 decrease in the testing frequency for Ethiopian pepper (CN 0904) and spices in CN 0910 (ginger, saffron, turmeric) to 30% in July 2024 (previously 50%). 
• The pesticide-testing frequency for nutmeg, mace and cardamom from India went up to 30% in July 2024 (previously 20%). 

Control of pesticide residues

Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 sets maximum residue levels (MRLs) of pesticides in or on plant-origin food and feed. The MRL is the highest amount of pesticide residue legally permitted in or on food products when pesticides are used. Products exceeding these levels are taken off the European market. In 2025, 35% of all issues reported in the RASFF were about excessive pesticide levels or traces of illegal pesticides. 

Of these, the most frequently reported pesticide issues were:

1. Chlorpyrifos: 35 issues (35%)
2. Pesticide cocktails: 33 issues (33%)
3. Ethylene oxide (EtO): 16 issues (16%)
4. Other: 16 issues (16%)

A cocktail is a mix of two or more pesticides. These often include Chlorpyrifos and others, such as:

• Anthraquinone;
• Carbendazim;
• Chlorfenapyr;
• Chlorothalonil;
• Clothianidin;
• Thiamethoxam;
• Tolfenpyrad;
• Triazophos;
• Cyromazine.

The EU regularly updates its list of approved pesticide active substances under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. In 2022, the European Commission suggested the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR). It aimed to reduce the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030. But the European Parliament rejected this proposal in November 2023. The Commission formally withdrew it in February 2024. 

As of 2026, the EU has not adopted any new regulation to replace the SUR. Instead, the European Commission is working on other measures and targeted changes in existing laws about pesticides and food safety.

Synthetic pesticides not allowed in organic production for the EU market

Organic operators need to prevent contamination and cannot use non-authorised pesticides. If pesticide residues are found, the product may only still be considered organic if the operator can show the residues come from accidental contamination (for example, drift or cross-contamination) and that precautionary measures were in place. If non-compliance is suspected, the product cannot be sold as organic until the case has been investigated. 

Control of contaminants 

Food contaminants are substances that have not been intentionally added to food. They may be present in herbs and spices as a result of production, packaging, transport, holding or environmental contamination. Contaminants can pose a health risk to consumers. To minimise these risks, the EU has set maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and ingredients.

Bacterial contaminants

The EU regulation on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs lays down the microbiological criteria for certain micro-organisms and the rules that food business operators need to comply with. It does not set specific limits for herbs and spices.

The most common type of (micro)bacterial contaminant in spices and herbs is salmonella. Salmonella must be completely absent in spices and herbs. It is usually transmitted via contaminated irrigation water, manure, hands or animals if products are dried outside. In 2025, 6% of all 279 issues reported in the RASFF database related to salmonella (listed in Figure 1 under ‘microb’).

Black pepper from Brazil used to be the largest contributor to the subgroup of salmonella issues until 2023. Since 2024, salmonella contaminations have originated from a mix of countries and products, without any clear pattern. 

Plant toxins

Since December 2020, there have been maximum limits for certain foodstuffs that contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA). This legislation has been regularly updated under Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915 since 2023. Besides the limit of 400 μg/kg for cumin seed and most dried herbs, there is a higher limit of 1,000 μg/kg in place for borage, lovage, marjoram, oregano and mixtures of these herbs. 

The number of reported issues grew from 27 in 2022 to 47 in 2023 and 54 in 2024, mainly due to high PA levels in oregano and cumin from Türkiye. The number went down to 44 in 2025, as Turkish cumin got much better. The number of issues with oregano kept going up, from 13 in 2024 to 17 in 2025. 

Plant toxins can be transmitted to spices and herbs from weeds, including:

• Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris);
• Datura stramonium;
• Black nightshade (Solanum nigrum);
• Potato berries.

Mycotoxins 

Around 10% of all issues reported in the RASFF database in 2025 were due to mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are toxic compounds that are naturally produced by fungi, more commonly called moulds. 

The most common mycotoxins in herbs and spices are aflatoxins and Ochratoxin A. Aflatoxin contamination can take place in several spices including nutmeg, dried chillies, turmeric and ginger. The RASFF database shows that this kind of contamination is common in nutmeg from Indonesia. But the number of issues has gone down since 2023 (from 8 in 2023 to 4 in 2025). 

To protect consumers, the EU has set aflatoxins and ochratoxin A limits for specific herbs and spices (see Commission Regulation (EC) 1881/2006). Since August 2025, sampling rules for mycotoxins have referred to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2782 instead of Regulation (EC) No 401/2006.

Table 3: Aflatoxin limits for specific spices and herbs in the European Union

Source: EUR-Lex (25/05/2023)

Ochratoxin A was the subject of scientific research in the EU between 2018 and 2022. Studies have suggested that ochratoxin A may be genotoxic (causing genetic mutations) and carcinogenic (causing cancer). So far, these studies have not resulted in sharp reductions in the EU’s limits. 

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH)

Smoke contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), most notably benzo(a)pyrene. PAH can increase the risk of cancer. Because of this, the EU has set PAH limits for spices and herbs (except cardamon and smoked Capsicum spp): 10μg/kg for benzo(a)pyrene and 50μg/kg for the sum of all PAHs.

High PAH levels can be the result of high heat, using fossil fuels and/or a long smoking process. Although excessive levels of PAHs in spices and herbs are uncommon, heating and smoking do pose a risk. Crushed spices absorb more smoke than whole spices. The number of issues reported in the RASFF was highest in 2023 but has  gone down since then (from 7 issues in 2023 to 3 in 2025). These cases involved a wide range of spices and herbs, including ginger, paprika, black pepper, turmeric, bay leaves, chillies, garlic and cinnamon.

Metal contaminants

Metals like lead naturally occur in the environment, such as in soil and in water. Pollution from human activity adds to metals being present in the environment too. As a result, metal residues can occur in food. Contamination can happen during food processing and storage. It mainly comes from lead, as the EU has had lead residue limits for spices since 2021: 

• 0.6 mg/kg for fruit spices;
• 1.5 mg/kg for root and rhizome spices;
• 2.0 mg/kg for bark spices;
• 1.0 mg/kg for bud spices and flower pistil spices;
• 0.9 mg/kg for seed spices.

The number of lead issues was relatively stable until 2024, with 3–5 cases reported every year. But 2025 showed a sharp increase. 16 issues were reported in RASFF following reports on a variety of products and origins. Too much lead was found several times in Vietnamese cinnamon, and in batches of turmeric, cinnamon, cardamom, chillies, cloves, garlic, miscellaneous herbs, mixes and ginger from China, India, Indonesia, Madagascar and Uganda.

Labelling and packaging

The labelling of herbs and spices requires careful attention. The 2025 RASFF overview contains 17 labelling issues (11 and 7 in 2023 and 2024, respectively). Most of these related to allergens. In a few cases, the allergen declaration was missing, but most concerned an undeclared allergen (celery, mustard, sesame).

Food imported into the EU must meet the legislation on food labelling. Bulk packaging labels must contain: 

• Name and variety of product;
• Batch code;
• Net weight in metric system;
• Shelf life of the product or best before date, and recommended storage conditions;
• Lot identification number;
• Country of origin;
• Name and address of the manufacturer, packer, distributor or importer.

The lot identification and the name and address of the manufacturer, packer, distributor or importer may be replaced by an identification mark. Labels can also include details such as brand, drying method and harvest date. These batch details can also be included in the Product Data Sheet.

If the imported product is going directly to retail, the product labelling must meet EU regulations regarding the provision of food information to consumers. These regulations include clear requirements for nutrition values, origin, allergen labelling and the minimum font size for mandatory information. For herbs and spices, the label must declare allergens, such as celery and mustard. Spice mixes might also contain allergens, including gluten, wheat and nuts. Sulphur dioxide – sometimes used as a preservative – must also be declared as an allergen.

Control of unauthorised agents

The EU has strict regulations on what substances are allowed in foods. This is to ensure safe food for consumers. Regulation 1333/2008 sets the overall framework for the use of food additives in the EU. This regulation contains a list of approved food additives and their permitted uses, as well as labelling rules. Regulation 231/2012 sets out extra, detailed purity criteria for food additives. It lists the specific chemical composition, purity standards and production methods that approved additives must meet.

For spices and spice mixes, the restrictions for colouring agents are especially relevant. Of the 279 issues reported in the RASFF for 2025, 9 were about the unauthorised use of colouring agents. This was about the same as in 2023 and 2024, but it was much less than the 16 in 2022. Examples of colouring agents found in spice mixes include Sudan I, II and IV, as well as Rhodamine B. 

Fighting adulteration 

Another issue is the adulteration of herbs and spices. Adulteration is when other substances are mixed into a product, which affects quality. The more valuable the product, the more likely adulteration is. Examples are vanilla extract made from tonka beans, oregano mixed with strawberry leaves and saffron mixed with cheap components. 

Several organisations and projects have launched initiatives to fight food fraud. The ESA has published an Adulteration Awareness Document (available to ESA members), and the UK Spice and Seasoning Association offers guidance on the authenticity of herbs and spices.

Phytosanitary inspection

The EU inspects food products to protect citizens, animals and plants from diseases and pests. Common tools are food inspections and phytosanitary certificates. 

Special phytosanitary certificates are issued for plants or plant products that can be reproduced within Europe after import, such as for food containing seeds. Traders of herbs and spices require phytosanitary certificates only for seeds used for sowing and for fresh herbs and spices, such as fresh garlic, ginger and herbs. For more details on exporting fresh herbs to Europe, read the CBI’s study about exporting fresh herbs to Europe. 

2. What additional requirements and certifications do buyers ask for in spices and herbs?

European buyers often have additional requirements, beyond legal obligations. Many of these requirements are related to the European Spice Association (ESA) quality minima for specific products. Others relate to food safety, and sustainable and ethical business practices. 

Product quality requirements

Product quality is a major issue for European buyers. Several factors determine the quality of spices and herbs, including subjective aspects, like flavour and colour. Buyers often ask suppliers to comply with the ESA quality minima (available to ESA members only). 

While the applied quality criteria vary by product, several are used for all herbs and spices:

Cleanliness or purity

Herbs and spices must be free from diseases, foreign matter, foreign odours and other issues. The ESA sets the maximum presence of external matter at 10 g/kg, and foreign objects should be smaller than 2mm in diameter. Some buyers use more specific indicators from the American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) Cleanliness Specifications (only members can download). These can include the maximum presence of dead insects, excreta, moulds and other foreign matter. Other indicators in this category include ash level and acidity.

Moisture content

The ESA also sets the minimum moisture content for different spices and herbs. Some buyers may ask for a different moisture content.

Mesh or particle size of ground spices

To measure particle size, spices and herbs are ground to pass through a sieve of a specific diameter, expressed in microns. 95–99.5% of the powder should pass through the specified sieve size.

Odour and flavour

Herbs and spices must have a characteristic odour and flavour. This mainly depends on the chemical components of the essential oil. The variety and cultivar also have an effect, as do the geographic, climatic and growth conditions.

Essential oil

The quality of spices and herbs is typically better when the ash percentage is low and the essential oil content is high. ESA sets a minimum essential oil content for most spices and herbs.

For several spices and herbs, internationally recognised standards set specific criteria for quality and specification:

• Codex Alimentarius runs a committee on spices and culinary herbs (CCSCH) with standards developed for 14 different types of spices and herbs. A few standards are under revision in 2026, including cinnamon and sweet marjoram. 
• The International Standards Organisation (ISO) has product specifications for various spices, culinary herbs and condiments. Specifications have been developed for fennel (2023) and sumac (2022). In March 2026, the ISO website showed that many standards were under development (Table 4). 

Table 4: ISO standards for spices and herbs currently under development in ISO/TC 34/SC 7 (Spices, culinary herbs and condiments)

Source: GloballyCool (March 2026)

Some of the terms used in ISO standard development are:

• AWI (Approved Work Item): marks the start of a new standard.
• CD (Committee Draft): the first draft reviewed by experts
• DIS (Draft International Standard): circulated for wider international voting
• FDIS (Final Draft International Standard): the near-final version submitted for the last approval before publication.

Irradiation

Irradiation is not often used for spices and herbs. The EU allows sterilisation by irradiation under the condition of labelling, but European consumers do not want irradiated food. Because of this, European buyers often require radioactivity contamination tests for imported spices and herbs.

Third-party laboratory tests

The microbiological, chemical and physical conditions of the product are so important to buyers, that they ask for laboratory test reports more and more often. Buyers from Northwest Europe may request testing for more than 500 different pesticide residues. Deliveries are commonly accompanied by documentation from accredited laboratories. These documents should not be older than six months. 

The laboratories must be accredited, which can be an issue for suppliers in some developing counties. In some countries, laboratories can only perform a limited number of tests, so they need to send samples to other countries for analysis. The Indonesian company Nusa Harvest found the local laboratory SUCOFINDO to do the analysis of a batch of vanilla beans. It posted the first page of the analysis report on Instagram. 

Figure 2: Instagram post from Nusa Harvest showing lab-analysis results

Source: Nusa @ Instagram

Food safety certification

Food safety is crucial for the European market. Although legislation addresses many potential risks, it is not enough on its own. The 279 issues reported in the RASFF database in 2025 show that problems can still happen. As a result, importers prefer to work with producers and exporters who have food-safety systems with certificates recognised by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI).

For processors and traders of spices and herbs operating internationally, the most widely accepted certification programme is the Food Safety System Certification (FSSC 22000). This is a third-party certification programme based on the ISO methodology. 

Sooner or later, exporters to Europe are likely to come across buyers who require certification from the International Featured Standards (IFS) or British Retail Consortium Global Standards (BRCGS). These certification programmes are particularly relevant if you target certain European food-retail markets.

Having programmes with third-party certification is an asset to your company, and it helps attract new buyers. However, serious buyers may also want to visit and audit the production facilities of potential suppliers.

Sustainability compliance

Product quality and food safety are still the most important requirements in the European spices and herbs market. But more European buyers expect suppliers to show social and environmental responsibility.

This often means suppliers need to follow a buyer’s sustainability policy and sign a code of conduct. Buyers sometimes also ask suppliers to share sustainability information, take part in audits or get certification.

The growing focus on sustainability is linked to growing European expectations around human rights, environmental protection and supply-chain transparency.

Codes of conduct

Most European buyers use a code of conduct (CoC) to define what they expect around sustainability. These codes usually cover labour conditions, health and safety, environmental protection and business ethics.

Many European spice companies’ expectations are in line with guidance from the European Spice Association (ESA). Suppliers need to state that they comply with these principles and show improvements in areas such as worker safety, wages and environmental management.

Transparency initiatives

More European buyers are asking suppliers to share sustainability information. One platform often used to do this is Sedex (Supplier Ethical Data Exchange).

Sedex lets companies share information about labour standards, health and safety, environmental practices and business ethics. Buyers often ask suppliers to fill in a self-assessment questionnaire and share audit results. Sedex also developed the SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit) methodology. SMETA audits are widely used to assess working conditions and ethical performance at supplier facilities. The latest version is SMETA 7.0.

Sedex is not a certification scheme. It is a data-sharing platform and audit tool that helps companies monitor sustainability performance.

SSI aims to transform the global spice industry 

The Sustainable Spice Initiative (SSI) is an important sustainability initiative in the European spice sector. It brings together spice companies, NGOs and development organisations.

SSI promotes sustainable sourcing in global spice supply chains. SSI works with existing sustainability standards and tools. It also supports companies through initiatives like the SSI Sustainable Sourcing Programme.

Recently, SSI has promoted ‘sustainable sourcing’ systems and progress tracking. This includes a sustainable sourcing programme and the SSI Sustainable Sourcing Catalogue that helps companies deal with sustainability approaches relevant to spices and herbs.

Third-party schemes and company-wide approaches 

There are several third-party schemes that have criteria for social and environmental sustainability. In the mainstream herb and spice trade, the Rainforest Alliance is one of the better-known farm-level certification schemes. B Corp is a fast-growing company-level certification.

The Rainforest Alliance has continued to streamline its assurance system. In 2025, it started to move towards a single set of Supply Chain Requirements. This replaced older, separate supply-chain requirement documents. This makes it easier for companies that buy from certified farms to understand what is expected at each step.

The Rainforest Alliance and the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT) have also worked together through a Herbs & Spices Programme since 2022. The programme links environmental and ethical sourcing requirements for herb and spice supply chains.

Another sustainability label that is becoming more well-known is B Corp certification, which is managed by B Lab. Unlike product-based schemes, B Corp certifies entire companies and evaluates their overall social and environmental impact. B Corp is changing quickly. B Lab has announced a large update to the B Corp certification model. It is moving towards minimum requirements across seven topics and better third-party assurance. Changes are part of a transition timeline that started in March 2026.

If you already use the FSSC 22000 formal food safety management system, FSSC 24000 could be relevant and an easy addition. This certification focuses on social management systems and human-rights due diligence.

Overview of certifications and CoC

Table 5 provides the most important certifications and codes of conduct for the herbs and spices sector, along with information about the costs and the process. Note that some important costs components of certification are ‘hidden.’ This means that these are hard to determine, but you will likely find them in the offer of potential service providers. The most important hidden costs are: 

• Travel costs for the auditors (time and expenses);
• Accommodation costs for the auditors;
• Non-Conformity/Corrective Action Review.

In addition, it should be clear that any preparation for certification may require you to invest in your facilities or quality assurance and control system. 

Last but not least, if a company is applying for certification against different schemes with the same certification body, the certification body will likely be able to offer a discount on the total certification costs. 

Table 5: Most important certifications and CoC requested by buyers in the herbs and spices sector

Source: GloballyCool (March 2026)

3. What are the requirements and certifications for spices and herbs niche markets?

Most additional buyer requirements apply to mainstream herb and spice markets. However, some niche markets have their own, specific requirements. While Fairtrade lays down requirements for sustainability in the social, environmental and ethical domains, product certification for the organic market mainly focuses on environmental requirements.

Sustainability certification

Although it is less important than product and food safety requirements, European buyers are demanding sustainability more and more often. The most obvious market in Europe for sustainably sourced products is the fair trade market. 

Fair trade

The fair trade market is built on fair trade certification. Every player in the supply chain needs to be certified to participate in this market. The fair trade market is privately regulated.

In the global fair trade market, there are several fair trade certification organisations. Fairtrade International is the largest one. It gives you access to the European market and most other international markets, except the United States of America. An example of a smaller, more regional certification organisation is Fairtrade Original from the Netherlands.

Fairtrade International has specific standards for herbs, herbal teas and spices from small-scale producer organisations. This defines minimum prices and price premiums for conventional and organic products from several countries and regions. For herbs and spices without a fixed Fairtrade Minimum Price or fixed Fairtrade Premium, the Fairtrade Premium is set at 15% of the commercial price.

Organic certification

If you want to sell your herbs and spices as organic in Europe, they must be grown using organic production methods that comply with EU organic legislation (Regulation (EU) 2021/2306 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2018/848). Growing and processing facilities must be audited by an accredited certifier. Regulation (EU) 1235/2008 lists requirements for organic products to be imported to the EU from third countries. 

The certification procedure roughly follows these five steps:

1. Develop an organic farm management plan and implement organic production practices step-by-step. Familiarise yourself with the requirements for organic production and if possible, use local consultancy services.
2. Apply for certification when you meet the requirements. Select and negotiate a certification fee with an EU-recognised control body listed in Annex III of Regulation (EU) 1235/2008. 
3. Arrange for inspection. An inspector verifies whether your organic farm management plan is true to reality. If they find critical non-conformities, you must correct these. 
4. Become certified. If you have completed Step 3 successfully, a certificate will be issued, valid for one year. You can then put the EU organic logo on your products. You have to print the certifier code number together with the logo. 
5. Manage batch documentation. Each batch of organic products imported into the EU must be accompanied by an electronic certificate of inspection (e‑COI), as defined in Annex V of Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008. This electronic certificate of inspection has to be generated via the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES).

GloballyCool carried out this study on behalf of CBI.

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