



Export Requirements by Country and Jurisdiction
Certification Requirements
Fish and fish products exported to Guatemala require a Guatemala Export Health Certificate.
Exporters should contact the issuing authority for United States, USDC NOAA Seafood Inspection Program, prior to export to arrange certification.
Neither facility registration for Guatemala, nor USDC Approved Establishment status is required to obtain certification.
Acts and Regulations
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, Safe Food and Public Health
Tolerances or Guidelines
Metal |
Applicable Fish Products |
Maximum level permitted |
Antimony |
All fish products excluding molluscs and crustaceans other than crab, oyster, prawn and shrimp |
1 |
Arsenic |
All fish products (excluding molluscs and crustaceans) in solid form |
6 |
Arsenic |
All fish products in liquid form |
0.14 |
Arsenic |
All shellfish products (molluscs and crustaceans) in solid form |
10 |
Arsenic |
Marine mammals (seals) |
1.4 |
Cadmium |
All fish products excluding molluscs and crustaceans other than crab, oyster, prawn and shrimp |
2 |
Cadmium |
Marine mammals (seals) |
0.2 |
Chromium |
All fish products excluding molluscs and crustaceans other than crab, oyster, prawn and shrimp |
1 |
Lead |
All fish products in liquid form |
1 |
Lead |
All fish products in solid form |
6 |
Mercury |
All fish products |
0.5 |
Tin |
All fish products |
230 |
The following hormones are prohibited for use in all fish products: dienoestrol, diethylstilboestrol, hexoestrol and oestradiol.
Fish products exported to Hong Kong cannot contain preservatives or antioxidants unless specified in the following table.
Fishery Product |
Preservative |
Maximum level permitted |
Fish ball, fish cake, and dried shredded fish |
|
1000 ppm |
Fish sauce |
Sulphur dioxide / Sulphurous acid / Sodium sulphite / Sodium hydrogen sulphite / Sodium metabisulphite / Potassium sulphite / Potassium metabisulphite / Calcium sulphite / Calcium hydrogensulphite |
350 ppm |
Fish sauce |
|
800 ppm |
Gelatin |
Sulphur dioxide / Sulphurous acid/ Sodium sulphite/ Sodium hydrogen sulphite/ Sodium metabisulphite / Potassium sulphite/ Potassium metabisulphite/ Calcium sulphite/ Calcium hydrogensulphite |
1000 ppm |
Gelatin capsules |
Sorbic acid / Sodium sorbate / Potassium sorbate / Calcium sorbate |
3000 ppm |
Oyster sauce |
|
1000 ppm |
Prawn, shrimp and scampi |
Sulphur dioxide / Sulphurous acid / Sodium sulphite / Sodium hydrogen sulphite / Sodium metabisulphite / Potassium sulphite / Potassium metabisulphite / Calcium sulphite / Calcium hydrogensulphite |
200 ppm (in the edible part) |
Shrimp paste |
|
1000 ppm |
For further information please contact the importer/client in Hong Kong. Further details on the restrictions concerning the sale of food containing preservatives or antioxidants are available from the Hong Kong Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
Certification Requirements - None specified.
As a country which has signed the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, Iceland has adopted the certification and import requirements in place for the European Union (EU). Consult the European Union certification requirements for certification of product exported to Iceland.
NOAA SIP Guidelines for the Export of Fishery Products to EFTA Countries
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organization set up for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its four Member States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland.
Guidance on the completion of the model health certificate for imports of fishery products intended for human consumption to EFTA countries.
The following guidance is provided to assist with the completion of the model health certificate for imports of fishery products intended for human consumption as laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 2074/2005(1) as amended.
It incorporates the notes for guidance listed on the certificate itself and the explanatory notes found in Commission Decision 2007/240/EC (2).
In addition, guidance has been obtained from the texts of the international standard- setting body Codex Alimentarius. In the Guidelines for Design, Production, Issuance and Use of Generic Official Certificates (CAC/GL 38-2001(3) issued by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (4), replacement certificates are foreseen for certain administrative corrections or if the certificates were lost or damaged.
All certification should be done via the NOAA SIP online certificate system. Only as an option when the system is down or unavailable, a PDF version is used. The directions below are guidance for both the system completion and the PDF certification for information required in fields located on the documents.
Certifying officers must verify that all firms that handled, processed or stored the product and its ingredients are listed as current approved shippers to the E.U.
US Facilities should appear on European Union Approved list at the following link:
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/sanco/traces/output/US/FFP_US_en.pdf
Certifying officers should verify that all foreign sourced material should be from manufacturing facilities listed at the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/food/international/trade/third_en.htm
The certificate must be issued before the consignment to which it relates leaves the control of the competent authority of the country of dispatch. Therefore the health certificate must be issued after all the products in the consignment have been produced but before the consignment leaves the country, ideally when the product leaves the dispatch establishment.
The original version of the certificate must accompany consignments on entry into EFTA country (original signature of an authorized officer, the name in capital letters, the qualification and title, and original stamp of the competent authority).
The EFTA countries have elected to use the EU model health certificate with public and animal health attestations. All intentions of the attestations must be met including Approved Facility listings and raw material sourcing requirements.
Certification Requirements - None specified.
Certification Requirements
A Health Certificate for fishery products intended for human consumption exported to the Republic of Indonesia is required for each consignment. Exporters should contact the issuing authority for United States, USDC NOAA Seafood Inspection Program, prior to export to make arrangements to obtain certification.
Acts and Regulations - None specified.
Tolerances and Guidelines - None specified.
Certification Requirements
Certification is not required; however, USDC can provide General Health Export Certificate and Fish Certificate of Origin.
Certification Requirements
Israel has elected to use the EU model health certificate with public and animal health attestations. All intentions of the attestations must be met including Approved Facility listings and raw material sourcing requirements. Israel is not a participant of the Veterinary Equivalence Agreement between the US and EU, therefore all product exported to Israel requires physical inspection.
If the product is produced in a USDC HACCP QMP facility a Lot inspection is not required. All documentation verification must still be done for each consignment.
If the product is produced in a USDC resident inspection facility physical consignment by consignment inspection is required prior to certification.
US Facilities should appear on the European Union Approved list at the following link:
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/sanco/traces/output/US/FFP_US_en.pdf
Certifying officers should verify that all foreign sourced material should be from manufacturing facilities listed at the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/international/trade/third_en.htm
All firms requesting an export certificate must be listed as an Approved Establishment in the USDC Seafood Inspection Program. All consignments must have been produced in an Approved Facility, have a USDC SIP Lot inspection and a USDC SIP Export Health certificate unique to the product and shipment.
The certificate must be issued before the consignment to which it relates leaves the control of the competent authority of the country of dispatch. Therefore the health certificate must be issued after all the products in the consignment have been produced but before the consignment leaves the country, ideally when the product leaves the dispatch establishment.
The original version of the certificate must accompany consignments on entry into the Israel (original signature of an authorized officer, the name in capital letters, the qualification and title, and original stamp of the competent authority).
Other Information
Tolerances or Guidelines
Labeling
Labels for fish products must include, in both Hebrew and English, the name of the product, the name of the fish from which the product was prepared, the name and address of the producer, the name and address of the importer, and the word "KOSHER" if the owner or importer is in possession of a certificate from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, or the words "NOT KOSHER" if the producer or importer is not in possession of such a certificate.
All manufactured and processed foods must be labelled with nutritional information according to guidelines set by the Israeli Health Ministry. Unprocessed fish is exempt from this requirement. Exporters should consult with their importers for further details concerning Israeli labeling requirements.
Acts and Regulations
Canned fish is subject to product specifications under the processed-food law.
Labeling and Marking Standards:
Further information regarding these requirements may be obtained from:
Ministry of Industry, Commerce & Tourism
Kingston, Jamaica.
Tolerances or Guidelines
Radioactivity content must be below the following maximum levels:
Certification Requirements - None specified.
Certification requirements
Beginning July 2, 2020, US exporters to Japan are required to obtain a specialized Health Certificate for exports of live raw oysters intended for human consumption. Based upon the 1962 bilateral shellfish agreement and Japan’s Food Sanitation Law which evaluates oyster management programs in the US on a state by state basis, Oysters from Oregon, Washington, Connecticut and New York are eligible for export to Japan. The specialized certificate is only intended for use with live raw oyster shipments harvested from Oregon, Washington, Connecticut and New York. The specific Harvest/Growing State and Location information must be provided in Box I.28 of the export health certificate. The ICSSL approval number must be included in box I.28 under manufacturing plant.
Specifically for cooked Crab, US exporters to Japan are required to obtain a Legal Harvest Certificate for exports of US or foreign harvested consignments. Shippers of foreign sourced product are required to provide valid documentation from country of origin to receive legal harvest certification.
In addition to certificate issuance, for each consignment, USDC Inspection staff will submit an attached copy of the issued certificate to the Japanese authorities via the following email address:
Tolerances and Guidelines
Acts and Regulations
Product Specification Standards/Labeling & Marketing Standards/Packaging Standards:
Tolerances or Guidelines
Piperonyl Butoxide: for dried codfish |
1.0 ppm |
Pyrethrin : for dried codfish |
0.1 ppm |
Certification Requirements
All fishery products must, before entering Kenya, be lot inspected for health and quality conditions and must be accompanied by an Export Health Certificate proving this inspection has been undertaken.
Certification Requirements
Beginning April 9, 2017 Live farmed aquatic animals, frozen/chilled Abalone, frozen/chilled Oyster’s require a Health Certificate. Normal inspection procedures apply to these fishery products, e.g. lot inspection, in-plant inspection or a current HACCP QMP system.
Beginning April 1, 2018 Live wild aquatic animals and frozen/chilled shrimp require a Health Certificate. Normal inspection procedures apply to these fishery products, e.g. lot inspection, in-plant inspection or a current HACCP QMP system.
All other fresh/frozen products do not require a certificate; however, ROK does have a pre- registration requirement. For normal (non-by-product) fishery products: Ministry of Food and Drug Safety: MFDS requires mandatory pre-registration process for overseas manufacturing facilities via MFDS system (https://impfood.mfds.go.kr/) by either an importer or an exporter 7 days before the import declaration.
The Republic of Korea (ROK) requires Export Health Certificates for by-products including frozen cod heads, tuna heads, southern hake heads, visceral by-products such as edible fish roe, Pollock entrails, hard roe and the nidamental gland of squid.
Normal inspection procedures apply to these by-products, e.g. lot inspection, in-plant inspection or a current HACCP QMP system. All frozen fish heads must be cut so the head with pectoral and ventral fins are attached and the frozen edible parts, e.g. meat from the neck, lower jaw and cheek, are included. Cod heads must be of U.S. origin, caught in the Pacific (Gadus microcephalus)
ROK also requires that U.S. exporters be on a list of approved facilities. Facilities shipping fisheries by-products to ROK must be Approved Establishments in the Seafood Inspection Program and must appear on the ROK Approved Shippers List. If you are interested in being placed on the ROK Approved Shippers List please contact Consumer Safety Officer HQ staff at Jenny.Stephenson@noaa.gov or 301-427-8307.
Acts and Regulations - None specified.
Tolerances and Guidelines - None specified.
Certification Requirements
Certification is not required; however, USDC can provide General Health Export Certificate and Fish Certificate of Origin.
Certification Requirements
Each shipment of fish and seafood products exported to Kuwait must be accompanied by the following two certificates:
As a country which has signed the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, Liechtenstein has adopted the certification and import requirements in place for the European Union (EU). Consult the European Union certification requirements for certification of product exported to Iceland.
NOAA SIP Guidelines for the Export of Fishery Products to EFTA Countries
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organization set up for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its four Member States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland.
Guidance on the completion of the model health certificate for imports of fishery products intended for human consumption to EFTA countries.
The following guidance is provided to assist with the completion of the model health certificate for imports of fishery products intended for human consumption as laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 2074/2005(1) as amended.
It incorporates the notes for guidance listed on the certificate itself and the explanatory notes found in Commission Decision 2007/240/EC (2).
In addition, guidance has been obtained from the texts of the international standard- setting body Codex Alimentarius. In the Guidelines for Design, Production, Issuance and Use of Generic Official Certificates (CAC/GL 38-2001(3) issued by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (4), replacement certificates are foreseen for certain administrative corrections or if the certificates were lost or damaged.
All certification should be done via the NOAA SIP online certificate system. Only as an option when the system is down or unavailable, a PDF version is used. The directions below are guidance for both the system completion and the PDF certification for information required in fields located on the documents.
Certifying officers must verify that all firms that handled, processed or stored the product and its ingredients are listed as current approved shippers to the E.U.
US Facilities should appear on the European Union Approved list at the following link:
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/sanco/traces/output/US/FFP_US_en.pdf
Certifying officers should verify that all foreign sourced material should be from manufacturing facilities listed at the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/international/trade/third_en.htm
The certificate must be issued before the consignment to which it relates leaves the control of the competent authority of the country of dispatch. Therefore the health certificate must be issued after all the products in the consignment have been produced but before the consignment leaves the country, ideally when the product leaves the dispatch establishment.
The original version of the certificate must accompany consignments on entry into EFTA country (original signature of an authorized officer, the name in capital letters, the qualification and title, and original stamp of the competent authority).
The EFTA countries have elected to use the EU model health certificate with public and animal health attestations. All intentions of the attestations must be met including Approved Facility listings and raw material sourcing requirements.
Tolerances or Guidelines - None Specified.
Certification Requirements - None specified.
Certification Requirements
Tolerances or Guidelines - None Specified.
Internet sites for information on exports to Macedonia: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management and Agency for Food and Veterinary Macedonia.
Certification Requirements
Each shipment of fish and seafood products exported to Malaysia must be accompanied by Export Health certificate and Certificate of Origin.
Acts and Regulations
Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development
Mexican Official Standard BILL
Regulations of the General Health Law on the Control of Activities, Establishments, Products and Services (Official Gazette ofJanuary 18, 1988):
Labeling
All labels on prepackaged products (excluding bulk) must appear in Spanish and must be at least the same size as those in other languages.
All labels must indicate the:
The expiry date of prepackaged products must be indicated with the words "Expiry date_____" "Expiry_____ " or "Exp. date_____" followed by the corresponding date.
Chilled product labels must also indicate:
Frozen product labels must also indicate:
Canned product labels must also indicate:
Exporters should consult with their importers for further details concerning Mexican labeling requirements.
Cartons of molluscan shellfish (fresh, refrigerated or frozen) must indicate:
Tolerances or Guidelines
Food in lead-soldered cans is not permitted.
Fresh-chilled and frozen product:
Salted fish must either:
Salted fish which does not meet this standard may be further tested for microbiological contaminants and if found to be unsatisfactory, could be rejected.
Fresh-chilled and frozen product and canned crustaceans:
The following food additives are permitted for frozen fish:
The following food additives are permitted in canned crustaceans with a maximum level indicative of good manufacturing practices:
pH regulators:
Flavour enhancers:
Humidity retainers:
Certification
Each shipment of fish and seafood products exported to Mexico must be accompanied by Export Health certificate and Commodity Specific Certificate of Origin.
Acts and Regulations
Fishery products must be in compliance with the requirements of the sanitary regulations of the European Union.
Tolerances and Guidelines - None specified.
Certification Requirements - None specified.