Plant Health
It reports to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and its objective is to inspect plant products at the border, both for export and import, in order to protect and ensure that the products are free from diseases, pests and other harmful organisms.
Phytosanitary Certificate
The Phytosanitary certificate is the document that certifies that the merchandise is free of pests and insects and complies with phytosanitary regulations. In addition, its issuance certifies that the packaging or pallets used comply with ISPM-15 regulations.
In relation to imports, its issuance is mandatory for almost all plant products: plants, tubers, bulbs, seeds, cut flowers and branches, fruits and vegetables; and also for some processed products that, due to their nature, represent a potential risk for the introduction of pests, for example, wood and cotton.
Their issuance will depend on the phytosanitary regulations in force in the areas and countries of destination. In this sense, the exporter should verify if there is any bilateral agreement linked to a specific campaign, as is the case with the United States, Japan and China.
If not, the requirements at destination must be consulted and verified and, if necessary, a copy of the regulations of the country of destination must be provided in order to process the export certificate. It should be noted that the validity of the certificate is about 60 days from the date of issue.
SOIVRE
The objective of SOIVRE (Official Service for the Inspection, Surveillance and Regulation of Exports) is to control the commercial quality of products and compliance with regulations in export and import operations.
Among its functions:
➔ Quality inspection of vegetable products: fruits, vegetables and live plants.
➔ Control and inspection of products and review of requirements in relation to organic products.
➔ Import safety control of certain industrial products.
Control and inspection of fauna and flora species subject to the application of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
To obtain the certificate, the operator or his representative must process the application which, once the inspection has been carried out and the goods have been declared compliant, the corresponding SOIVRE commercial quality control certificate is issued, with an NRC registration number that will be used in the customs declarations to proceed with the respective clearance.
External Health
Its main objective is to monitor and control potential health risks of all goods being imported, exported or in transit.
Its functions include: Sanitary inspection of goods of any origin, coming from third countries and destined for human consumption in the EU territory. Inspection and control of medicines and health products from third countries destined for the EU market, as well as the control of exports of these products. Depending on the type of operation, nature, origin or provenance of the goods, this body issues different types of certificates, which are necessary to allow the entry or exit of goods from the territory of the Union. The best known are:
Common Entry Health Document (CHED)
Certificate of capture and import control
Animal Health
It reports to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and its purpose is to carry out veterinary controls on the export and import of live animals, products of animal origin not intended for human consumption, medicines, animal health products and products intended for animal feed. The most well-known documents it issues are:
Veterinary Export Certificate.
Official EU certification for animals and animal products.
