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    Ia Trade Import-Cond-Fish en

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    The European Union is the world's largest importer of seafood and fishery products. It has harmonized import rules that apply across all EU countries. The EU Commission establishes these rules and negotiates directly with non-EU countries to ensure imports meet high standards for hygiene, safety, and animal health. Non-EU countries must follow principles of quality management throughout the production chain and be approved for specific products through an audit process before being allowed to export seafood and fishery products to the EU.

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    Ia Trade Import-Cond-Fish en

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    Fxg
    25 views4 pages
    The European Union is the world's largest importer of seafood and fishery products. It has harmonized import rules that apply across all EU countries. The EU Commission establishes these rules and negotiates directly with non-EU countries to ensure imports meet high standards for hygiene, safety, and animal health. Non-EU countries must follow principles of quality management throughout the production chain and be approved for specific products through an audit process before being allowed to export seafood and fishery products to the EU.

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    The European Union is the world's largest importer of seafood and fishery products. It has harmonized import rules that apply across all EU countries. The EU Commission establishes these rules and negotiates directly with non-EU countries to ensure imports meet high standards for hygiene, safety, and animal health. Non-EU countries must follow principles of quality management throughout the production chain and be approved for specific products through an audit process before being allowed to export seafood and fishery products to the EU.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    25 views4 pages

    Ia Trade Import-Cond-Fish en

    Uploaded by

    Fxg
    The European Union is the world's largest importer of seafood and fishery products. It has harmonized import rules that apply across all EU countries. The EU Commission establishes these rules and negotiates directly with non-EU countries to ensure imports meet high standards for hygiene, safety, and animal health. Non-EU countries must follow principles of quality management throughout the production chain and be approved for specific products through an audit process before being allowed to export seafood and fishery products to the EU.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 4

    EU import conditions for seafood

    and other fishery products


    The European Union (EU) is by far the world’s biggest importer of fish, seafood and
    aquaculture products. Import rules for these products are harmonised, meaning that
    the same rules apply in all EU countries. On behalf of all EU Member States, the
    European Commission is the sole negotiating partner for all non-EU countries in
    questions related to import conditions for seafood and fishery products.

    The European Commission’s Directorate-


    General for Health and Food Safety
    establishes import conditions for fishery
    products and shellfish (bivalve molluscs).
    By following these rules non-EU countries
    can guarantee that their exports of such
    products fulfil the same high standards
    as products from the EU Member States
    – not only with respect to hygiene and
    consumer safety but, if relevant, also to
    their animal health status.

    Non-EU countries which are interested in


    exporting seafood and fishery products to
    the EU must be aware of the fundamental principles and philosophy of European Food Law, which
    forms the basis for our import conditions.

    Principles of European Food Law


    EU citizens have legitimate, high expectations regarding the safety and quality of their food. To meet these
    expectations, EU food law implements the principle of quality management and process-oriented controls
    throughout the food chain - from the fishing vessel or aquaculture farm to the consumer’s table. Spot
    checks on the end product alone would not provide the same level of safety, quality and transparency to
    the consumer.

    General Rules for Fishery Products


    Imports of fishery products into the EU are subject to official certification, which is based on the
    recognition of the competent authority of the non-EU country by the European Commission. This formal
    recognition of the reliability of the competent authority is a pre-requisite for the country to be eligible

    Health and
    Food Safety
    and authorised to export to the EU. Public authorities with the necessary legal powers and resources
    must ensure credible inspection and controls throughout the production chain, which cover all relevant
    aspects of hygiene, public health and, in the case of aquaculture products, also animal health.

    All bilateral negotiations and other relevant dialogue concerning imports of fishery products must be
    undertaken by the national competent authority. All other interested parties and private businesses
    wishing to export to the EU should contact their competent authority which in turn will communicate
    with the European Commission.

    Specific Key Elements


    For all fishery products, countries of origin must be on a positive list of eligible countries for the
    relevant product. The eligibility criteria are:

    •• Exporting countries must have a competent authority which is responsible for performing official
    controls throughout the production chain. The authority must be empowered, structured and
    resourced to implement effective inspection and guarantee credible public health and animal health
    attestations in the health certificate to accompany fishery products that are destined for the EU.

    •• Live fish, their eggs and gametes intended for breeding and live bivalve molluscs must fulfil the
    relevant EU animal health standards. Consequently the veterinary services in the non-EU country
    must ensure effective enforcement of all necessary health controls and implement appropriate
    health monitoring programmes.

    •• The competent authority must also guarantee that the relevant hygiene and public health
    requirements are met. EU hygiene legislation contains specific requirements regarding the structure
    of vessels, landing sites, processing establishments and on operational processes, freezing and
    storage. These provisions are aimed at ensuring that food is produced safely and that contamination
    of the product during processing is prevented.

    •• Specific conditions apply for imports of live or processed bivalve molluscs (e.g. mussels and clams),
    echinoderms (e.g. sea urchins) or marine gastropods (e.g. sea-snails and conchs). Such products may
    only be imported into the EU if they come from production areas which have been approved by the
    competent authority and listed by the Commission on its website. . The competent authorities of
    exporting countries are required to give guarantees on the classification of these products and the
    close monitoring of the production areas to exclude contamination with certain marine biotoxins
    causing shellfish poisoning.

    •• In the case of aquaculture products, a residue monitoring plan which includes testing for
    residues of veterinary drugs, pesticides, heavy metals and contaminants, must be in
    place to verify compliance with EU requirements. The plan (and results from the previous year’s
    monitoring) must be submitted to the European Commission annually for approval. Countries with
    approved plans are listed

    •• Imports are only authorised from approved vessels and establishments (e.g. processing
    plants, freezer or factory vessels, cold stores), which have been inspected by the competent
    authority of the exporting country and found to meet EU requirements. When it signs the export
    health certificate, the authority is certifying that it provides the necessary guarantees, carries
    out regular inspections of vessels and establishments and takes corrective action, if necessary.
    A list of approved vessels and establishments is maintained by the European Commission and is
    published on its website.

    •• Audits by the Commission’s Health and Food Audit and Analysis Directorate are carried out to verify
    compliance with the above requirements. Audits establish confidence between the Commission and
    the competent authority of the exporting country.

    Inspection of fishery products at the EU border


    Imports of fishery products from non-EU countries must enter the EU via an
    approved Border Inspection Post under the authority of an official veterinarian
    in the EU Member State in question.

    Each consignment is subject to a systematic documentary check, identity check


    and, as appropriate, a physical check. The frequency of physical checks depends
    on the risk profile of the product and also on the results of previous checks.

    Consignments which are found not to be compliant with EU legislation shall


    either be destroyed or, under certain conditions, re-dispatched within 60 days.

    For information on personal imports, see:


    https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/animalproducts/personal_imports_en

    Training and Technical Assistance


    The European Commission provides training and technical assistance for institutional capacity building
    to help developing countries comply with EU rules. For example, the Commission’s Better Training for
    Safer Food initiative runs training courses for competent authorities’ official control staff in developing
    countries on EU standards for fishery and aquaculture products. The training is aimed at broadening the
    officials’ knowledge of EU standards in these countries thereby improving the effectiveness of official
    controls performed on establishments and their levels of compliance with EU standards. This initiative
    facilitates developing countries’ access to the EU market for their fishery products.

    Additional, national and regional development programmes of the European Union are available
    in individual countries, as well as bilateral aid projects implemented by some Member States. The
    delegations of the European Union can provide detailed information on these programmes.

    For more details, see: https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/official_controls/legislation/btsf_en


    https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/area/geo_en
    Country listing – the process
    The process by which a non-EU country can export fishery products to the EU is as follows:

    1. The competent authority of a non-EU country must submit a written request to the Directorate-
    General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission to export fish, fishery products or
    bivalve molluscs to the EU. The request should contain confirmation that the authority can fulfil all
    relevant legal provisions to satisfy EU requirements.

    2. The Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety sends a general and/or product-specific
    questionnaire to the competent authority which should be completed and returned. The completed
    questionnaire(s) will provide information on relevant national legislation on animal health and food
    hygiene, structure of the competent authorities etc.

    3. For aquaculture products, a residue monitoring plan of the exporting country must also be submitted to the
    Commission. If the plan is not approved by the Commission, aquaculture products may not be imported into
    the EU regardless of the non-EU country’s compliance with other public health or animal health requirements.

    4. After the evaluation of the information provided, an audit by the Commission’s Health and Food
    Audits and Analysis Directorate may be carried out to assess the situation on the spot. Such an audit
    is mandatory for high-risk products like shellfish.

    5. If the results of the evaluation / audit, and the guarantees given by the exporting country are deemed
    to be sufficient, the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety proposes the listing of the non-
    EU country and any specific conditions under which imports from that country will be authorised. In
    parallel it will draft a list of approved establishments in the country. These are then discussed with
    representatives of all EU Member States.

    6. If the Member States have a favourable opinion on the proposal, the European Commission will list both
    the non-EU country and any specific import conditions which apply. Lists of eligible establishments
    can be amended at the request of the exporting country and are made available for the public on the
    internet: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/sanco/traces/output/non_eu_listsPerActivity_en.htm

    For further information:

    As a first step, companies wishing to export seafood or other fishery products to the EU
    should contact the relevant competent authorities in their country.

    The Food Safety website of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health &
    Food Safety: https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety_en

    Detailed information on import conditions for animals and animal products:


    https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/animalproducts_en

    Key questions on the new rules on food hygiene and official food controls:
    https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/safety/docs/biosafety_fh_legis_guidance_interpretation_imports.pdf

    EU Trade Helpdesk: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/tradehelp/

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