Export Requirements by Country and Jurisdiction (N-Z)

The NOAA Seafood Inspection Program certifies U.S. seafood products for export to any country requiring health certification.

National

New Caledonia

Requirements

These instructions establish and implement a procedure which will assure national uniformity in the completion and issuance of the USDC SIP Export Health Certificate unique to the product and shipment to New Caledonia for computer-based certificates.

General

There are 3 Export Health Certificates for New Caledonia unique to the type and presentation of the fishery product:
- New Caledonia Mollusc
- New Caledonia Crustacean
- New Caledonia Fish
Only non-live molluscs are eligible for certification to New Caledonia

Requests for Inspection:

Whether received by email, telephone, fax or in writing, the information requested on NOAA Form 89-814, Request for Inspection Services, must be obtained from the applicant. If a written request contains the information necessary to perform the inspection, a NOAA Form 89-814 needs to be completed by SIP personnel prior to performing the inspection. The written request or NOAA-completed form will be filed with the certificate as part of the permanent record.

Completing the Export Health Certificate:

The certificate is prepared by transferring to it the pertinent information taken from its accompanying request and observations made during the inspection. In the case of HACCP-QMP facility, the information will be provided by the requesting firm. All certification should be done via the NOAA SIP online certificate system. A PDF version can be used only as an option when the system is down or unavailable. The directions below are guidance for both the online and PDF certification.

The certificate will be printed on official USDC watermarked paper only.

General instructions for Completion of the New Caledonia Export Health Certificates

Choose appropriate export certificate for unique product and presentation of product.
Ensure specific attestations listed on certificate have been met for each consignment.

Acts and Regulations

https://davar.gouv.nc/importations-exportations-importations/les-denrees-alimentaires

New Zealand

Certification Requirements

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.

Import Permit

In addition to a U.S. certificate, certain products require a permit to import, which is issued by the government of New Zealand. A permit to import will be granted on a single consignment basis only.

Importation of trout and trout products into New Zealand for commercial use is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to the following trout species, either dead or alive, or any product containing:

Brown trout (Salmo trutta)
Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
American brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)
Cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki)
Golden trout (Oncorhynchus aguabonita)
Gila trout (Oncorhynchus gilae)
Apache trout (Oncorhynchus apache)
Mexican trout (Oncorhynchus chyrsogaster)

or any hybrid of a fish listed above.

Commercial consignments of commercially packaged (non-trout) salmonids exported to New Zealand must be for direct retail sale and human consumption and require no further packaging and/or processing prior to retail sale or use in institutional trade. Commercial consignments do not require a permit to import but they must have a U.S. certificate and must be eligible for biosecurity clearance at the New Zealand border.

The importation of salmonid products in bulk form (product which is intended to be further processed and/or packaged in New Zealand prior to retail sale or use in the institutional trade), requires a permit to import issued by the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries.

Tolerances and Guidelines

Mercury (total): 0.5 ppm
Arsenic: 1.0 ppm
Lead: 2.0 ppm
Fluorine: 10.0 ppm
Zinc: 40.0 ppm
Selenium: 2.0 ppm
Cadmium: 1.0 ppm
Tin: 150.0 ppm
Antimony: 1.0 ppm
Copper: 30.0 ppm

(These apply to fish and fish products on a fresh weight basis.)

Current applicable guidelines, standards and restrictions that can be applied to Canadian fish and fish products may be found in the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries website.

Nigeria

Acts and Regulations

Labeling requirements:

consignee's mark and port mark
containers must be numbered to correspond with numbers on invoices

Tolerances and Guidelines - None specified.

Certification Requirements - None specified.

Norway

Norway has adopted the certification and import requirements in place for the European Union (EU) by signing the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement. 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. A PDF version can be used only when the system is down or unavailable. The directions below are guidance for both online and PDF certification.

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 EU.

U.S. facilities should appear on European Union Approved list.

Certifying officers should verify that all foreign-sourced material should be from manufacturing facilities listed.

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.

Philippines

Acts and Regulations

Prior to import, approval must be obtained from the Bureau of Fisheries and the Food and Drug Administration.

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
Arcadia Bldg.
860 Quezon Ave.
Quezon City, Metro Manila, 3008, Philippines

Food and Drug Administration
Rizal Ave.
Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Labeling and Marking Standards:

Label must be marked in English, Spanish or Filipino, showing brand name, trade mark or trade name, physical or chemical composition, weight or measurement in metric units, name and address of packer or seller, and country of origin.

Bureau of Standards
TML Bldg.
Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Tolerances and Guidelines

Mercury (as methyl mercury): 0.5 ppm
Tin: 200.0 ppm
Lead: 0.5 ppm
Arsenic: 3.0 ppm

Certification Requirements - None specified.

Russia

Listed below are the certification requirements for shipments to Russia. As of fall 2014, Russia imposed a ban on imports of fish and fishery products from the United States. This ban is still in effect. For this reason, USDC Seafood inspection program cannot issue Export Certificates for product bound for Russia. In addition, while the ban is in effect, USDC Seafood Inspection Program is unable to request any updates to the Rosselkhoznadsor list.

Certification Requirement

Effective November 10, 2010, U.S. seafood firms in the supply chain desiring to produce, pack, store, or ship fish and fishery products for export to the Russian Federation must meet the requirements of the NOAA Seafood Inspection Program to be “approved establishments” in accordance with the regulations and policies of the NOAA Seafood Inspection Program. Only establishments approved by the NOAA Seafood Inspection Program and subsequently approved by Rosselkhoznadzor—the Russian food safety agency—may receive certification from NOAA for export to the Russian Federation. This export procedure is required by Russian law and is in accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding approved by United States and Russian officials and Federal Register Notice.

Any firm requesting an export health certificate for the Russian Federation must be listed on the Russian Federation website and be an approved establishment with the NOAA Seafood Inspection Program. All operations within the supply chain for a specific lot of product being shipped to the Russian Federation, including vessels, storage warehouses, and processors, are to be approved establishments of the NOAA Seafood Inspection Program.

All supply chain points for a specific lot of product to be certified need not be listed on the Russian Federation website. However the requestor of the certificate may only request certificates for products that have originated, been handled, or processed by firms that are on the List of approved establishments for SIP. One exception exists, brokers, which may be listed on the Russian Federation site are not required to be approved establishments. Brokers are still required to send products that have met all the requirements.

Firms desiring to be listed on the Russian site of approved shippers must follow the following procedures:

Submit your request to the nearest Seafood Inspection Program Regional Inspection Branch. When submitting the request firms must provide the full name of the firm to be listed, the FEI number, address, type of operation (broker, processor, vessel, etc.) and products to be included on the list.

Submission requests for inclusion on the list are collected by SIP and submitted monthly. Inclusion on the list takes a minimum of 45 days from the time it is submitted by the NOAA Seafood Inspection Program to Rosselkhoznadzor.

Once a firm is listed and desires a certificate, they are to contact the servicing Regional Inspection Branch for such a request. The product lot must not only originate from and be handled by approved establishments it must also be inspected either through in-plant inspection service or lot inspected. Firms must be able to provide evidence the product came through approved establishments throughout the supply chain. (Note: We are now only requiring the product be processed by an approved establishment. The industry will be notified when it is required to have all points in the chain approved.)

Certificates must be issued prior to shipment.

There are a number of analytical tests performed by the Russian border inspection posts and at times there are issues related to these test results. SIP will investigate any positive findings and report back to the Russian Federation.

Acts and Regulations

Product Standards:

GOSSTANDART

Joint Russian Federation State Customs Committee and State Committee of the Russian Federation for Standardization, Metrology and Certification

Importation Regulations:

Ministry of Foreign Trade
32/34 Smolenskaya – Sennaya
Moscow G–200

Tolerances or Guidelines

Mercury:

Fish (live, raw, refrigerated, frozen) viscera, minced blocks, fillets:

freshwater non–predatory fish, fish oil: 0.3 ppm
freshwater predatory fish: 0.6 ppm
saltwater fish, fish liver and products made of fish liver, fish flour: 0.5 ppm
milt, fish eggs, mollusks, crustaceans: 0.2 ppm
seaweed: 0.1 ppm

Saudi Arabia

All firms requesting an export health certificate must be listed on the Saudi Arabia Seafood Export list before fishery and/or aquaculture products can be certified by NOAA SIP for export to Saudi Arabia. Firms may apply for inclusion on the list using the FDA Export Listing Module (ELM). Please visit Online Applications for Export Lists for a link to this electronic system and step-by-step instructions.

It is important to note that NOAA-SIP will only issue certificates to establishments for products produced by Saudi Arabia Seafood Export list listed/approved establishments.

Serbia

The Republic of Serbia has adopted the certification and import requirements in place for the European Union (EU); however, Serbia is not a member of the European Union.

Consult the European Union certification requirements for certification of product exported to Serbia.

Serbia 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. Serbia is not a participant of the Veterinary Equivalence Agreement between the U.S. and EU, therefore all product exported to Serbia, require 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 or a non-contract facility, physical consignment by consignment inspection is required prior to certification.

Singapore

Acts and Regulations - None specified.

Tolerances or Guidelines - None specified.

Certification Requirements - None specified.

Sri Lanka

Acts and Regulations

An application for an import license is required for dried and salted or curried fish.

Labeling:

country of origin
consignee's mark with port mark

Tolerances or Guidelines - None specified.

Certification Requirements - None specified.

Switzerland

As a country that has signed the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, Switzerland 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

Guidance on the completion of the model health certificate for imports of fishery products intended for human consumption to EFTA countries.

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 on the NOAA SIP online certificate system. A PDF version is available when the system is down or unavailable. The directions below are guidance for both online and PDF certification.

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 EU.

U.S. facilities should appear on European Union Approved list.

Certifying officers should verify that all foreign-sourced material should be from manufacturing facilities listed.

Taiwan

Certification Requirements

These instructions establish and implement a procedure, which will assure national uniformity in the completion and issuance of the USDC Seafood Inspection program the Health Certificate for exports of fishery products/ molluscan shellfish intended for human consumption unique to the product and shipment to Taiwan.

The exporter should consult with the importer on current specific requirements.

Export of molluscan shellfish require an export health certificate to enter the Taiwan. The specific harvest/growing state and location information must be provided in Box I.28 of the export health certificate.

While certification is not required for fishery products other than molluscan shellfish, if a U.S. exporter requests certification the health certificate for exports of fishery products/molluscan shellfish intended for human consumption shall be issued.

Acts and Regulations

Labeling:

Country and province of origin must be declared.
All master cartons require a shipping mark. Please contact the importer for further details.

Tolerances and Guidelines - None specified.

Thailand

Acts and Regulations

Labeling (canned fishery products):

Labeled and marked in the Thai language showing the common name food, registration number, name and address of manufacturer, date of manufacturing, net weight of content, and any additives used.

Certification Requirements

There are no specified requirements for export to Thailand. A model certificate is available upon request for U.S. exports to Thailand. If a certificate is requested, it must be issued prior to departure from the U.S. and an original version of the certificate must accompany consignments on entry into Thailand.

Tolerances or Guidelines

Mercury:	0.5 ppm
Arsenic:	2.0 ppm
Copper:	20.0 ppm
Lead:	1.0 ppm
Tin:	250.0 ppm
Tin (canned products):	100.0 ppm
*Aldrin:	0.1 ppm
*BHC:	0.5 ppm
*D.D.T.:	5.0 ppm
*Dieldrin:	0.3 ppm
*Endrin:	0.3 ppm
*Heptachlor, Heptachlor epoxide:	0.3 ppm
*Lindane:	0.5 ppm
*Malathion:	0.6 ppm
*Parathion:	0.2 ppm

(*in fish and fish products on a fresh weight basis)

Trinidad and Tobago

Acts and Regulations

Importers of fish (fresh, chilled or frozen) shrimp or prawns (excluding canned shrimps and prawns), and canned tuna must have an import license.

Contacts:

Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Consumers Affairs
Salvatory Bldg.
Frederick Street
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Telephone: 62-38841

Food and Drug Division
Ministry of Health

Labeling:

Outer containers:

consignee's mark and port mark
numbered unless containers can be readily identified

Food products:

brand name, common brand, net weight, volume, ingredients list, declaration of preservatives, food colors and imitation flavorings used.

Tolerances or Guidelines - None specified.

Certification Requirements

All fishery products must be accompanied by the origin country export health certificate.

Tunisia

Acts and regulations - None specified.

Tolerances or Guidelines - None specified.

Certification Requirements - None specified.

Turkey

Acts and Regulations - None Specified.

Tolerances or Guidelines - None Specified

Certification Requirements

The Republic of Turkey 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. The Republic of Turkey is not a participant of the Veterinary Equivalence Agreement between the U.S. and EU, therefore all product exported to the Republic of Turkey 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 or a non-contract facility, physical consignment by consignment inspection is required prior to certification.

U.S. facilities should appear on both the domestic FDA List and the European Union Approved list.

Certifying officers should verify that all foreign-sourced material should be from manufacturing facilities listed.

The original version of the certificate must accompany consignments on entry into the Republic of Turkey (original signature of an authorized officer, the name in capital letters, the qualification and title, and original stamp of the competent authority).

Ukraine

Tolerances or Guidelines - None specified.

Certification requirements

Each shipment of fish and seafood products exported to Ukraine must be accompanied by Ukraine Export Health certificate. The original version of the certificate must accompany consignments on entry into Ukraine (original signature of an authorized officer, the name in capital letters, the qualification and title, and original stamp of the competent authority).

Ukraine has adopted the certification requirements in place for the European Union (EU).

Ukraine is not a participant of the Veterinary Equivalence Agreement between the U.S. and EU, therefore all product exported to Ukraine requires physical inspection. If the product is produced in a USDC HACCP QMP facility, a lot inspection is not required.

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 EU.

U.S. facilities should appear on European Union Approved list.

Certifying officers should verify that all foreign-sourced material should be from manufacturing facilities listed.

United Arab Emirates

Acts and Regulations - None specified.

Tolerances or Guidelines - None specified.

Certification Requirements

These instructions establish and implement a procedure, which will assure national uniformity in the completion and issuance of the USDC Seafood Inspection program the Health Certificate for aquatic animals (live/products) including molluscs, crustaceans, amphibians and echinoderms intended for human consumption exported to the United Arab Emirates unique to the product and shipment to UAE.

Beginning November 2018, each shipment of fish and seafood products exported to United Arab Emirates must be accompanied by a Health Certificate for aquatic animals (live/products) including mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians and echinoderms intended for human consumption exported to the United Arab Emirates.

Normal inspection procedures apply to these products, e.g. lot inspection, in-plant inspection or a current HACCP QMP system.

Venezuela

Acts and Regulations

Labeling requirements:

each carton or container in the lot must be labeled with the importer's license number
each box or carton must have the port of destination clearly marked
all units of measurement, weight, length, etc., must be stated in metric on all documentation

Tolerances and Guidelines

These tolerances apply to all products either fresh or frozen:

Heavy Metals	Fish Species	Tolerance
Arsenic:	sardines, shellfish, tuna	0.1 ppm
Cadmium:	sardines, tuna	not detectable
Cadmium:	shellfish	0.1 ppm
Copper:	sardines, tuna, shellfish	0.1 ppm
Mercury:	sardines, shellfish	0.1 ppm
Mercury:	tuna	0.5 ppm
Tin:	sardines, shellfish, tuna	100.0 ppm

Certification Requirements - None specified.

Vietnam

Establishment Approval

All processors shipping products intending to enter commerce in Vietnam must be an Approved Establishment in the Seafood Inspection Program to obtain certification.

As of December 2017, DAH of Vietnam has removed all Live product processors from the Vietnam approved list. DAH has deemed live shipments outside the scope of Decree 15 and thus no longer require listing. Live product processors require approved establishment status with USDC and accompanying Health Certification for shipment but are no longer required to be listed on the Vietnam approved list.

Firms desiring to export seafood products to Vietnam are also required to be approved by the Vietnamese authority, DAH, prior to shipment.

DAH requires the competent authority to send originals of Form 9 for each firm requesting approval and listing. This is to be accompanied with the authority’s completion of Form 7. Additional information including, the process flow diagram, a HACCP plan (grid) and a sample label is required for each submission.

Brokers are not required to be on the list, only the final processor. Brokers may only ship products to Vietnam that originate from a processor on the list.

Please submit the completed Form 9 and electronic version(s) of the additional required documents for each of the products you want listed to Shelley.Davis@noaa.gov. NOAA SIP will sign and stamp the documents and forward the hard copy to Vietnam.

(If you are a broker only, you are not required to be listed.)

Certification Requirements

Once approved and listed on the DAH website firms must request an Export Health certificate from their local NOAA Fisheries Seafood Inspection Office (SIP). Products will be lot inspected prior to certification if the firm is not a participant in the HACCP QMP program with SIP.

DAH desires NOAA to inspect and certify the products being sent to Vietnam. Firms should join the Seafood Inspection Program as approved establishments. DAH requires a pre-shipment clearance process for each shipment to Vietnam. However, our Program policies and procedures are understood and DAH has agreed to its terms. This means that, depending upon your level of participation in our Program, not every shipment must be lot inspected.

A certificate must accompany every shipment to Vietnam. Further, the certificate must have the name of the producer on the list. The name of the producer must be on the label. This includes the primary and shipping containers. The labels must be bilingual (stated in Vietnam Circular 13).

Firms shipping products destined for reprocessing and re-export are not required to be on the SIP approved establishment or DAH list, however, a certificate is still required. The statement “Product is intended for reprocessing and re-export only.” will be entered on the certificate.

Per Decree 15 on Food Safety, All dietary supplements and food ingredients fall under MOH’s (Ministry of Health) jurisdiction and are not subject to registration with DAH. These products are subject to self-declaration or are exempt per the info below.

Import for commercial sale: Importers must publish Form of Products Self-Declaration prior to importation. The procedure is prescribed in Article 5 of Decree 15 (Exporters must provide manufacturers’ specifications).

Import for internal use/processing for export: Importers are exempt from Self-Declaration, but must show proof of importation for internal use/processing for export. Ingredients imported for these purposes are also exempt from import inspection.

If there are any questions please contact Shelley Davis Shelley.Davis@noaa.gov

Zambia

Tolerances or Guidelines

Mercury (as methyl mercury):	tuna	0.3 ppm
	other fish	0.2 ppm
Arsenic:	fish protein	3.5 ppm
	other fish & fish products	5.0 ppm
Copper:	all fish & fish products	100.0 ppm
Lead:	fish protein	0.5 ppm
	other fish & fish products	10.0 ppm
Flourine:	fish protein	150.0 ppm
	other fish & fish products	25.0 ppm
Zinc :	all fish products	100.0 ppm
Sodium sulphite:	canned flaked tuna	300.0 ppm
Sodium tripolyphosphate: (total added phosphate)	frozen fish fillets, lobsters, crabs, clams, shrimps	0.5%
Sodium carbonate: (combination of sodium hexametaphosphate)	frozen fillets, lobsters, crabs, clams, shrimps	15.0%
Propyl-P-hydroxy benzoate:	used as a preservative	1000.0 ppm
Methyl-P-hydroxy benzoate:	used as a preservative	1000.0 ppm