General requirements for import
Argentine food code: Provides organizations with responsibilities to ensure food safety and high-quality conditions related to imported food. It also provides guidance on the inspection of imported fish and fishery products as well as for the sampling to be carried out at borders.
Resolution No 816/2002: Provides guidance on all procedures related to the import of animal origin products in Argentina.
The legal text is available at the following link, only in Spanish version:
http://www.senasa.gob.ar/normativas/resolucion-816-2002-senasa-servicio-nacional-de-sanidad-y-calidad-agroalimentaria
Resolution No 3823: established the Sistema Integral de Monitoreo de Importaciones (SIMI), which is an integrated system for import control through non-automatic import licenses (NAIL) or automatic (AIL). Fishery and aquaculture products are included under AIL and the license application information required includes importer, origin country, HS code, product description, state of merchandise, number of units, and value of shipment.
The legal text is available at the following link, only in Spanish version:
http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/anexos/255000-259999/257180/norma.htm
Additives, contaminants, antimicrobials, and residues
Argentine Food Code: Provides guidance in Chapter XVIII about additives in foodstuffs, which are permitted to be added to food sold in Argentina, their standards, and their maximum levels.
Argentine Food Code: Provides guidance in Chapter III about residues of veterinary drugs and contaminants, their standards, and their maximum levels.
Microbiological and organic criteria
Argentine Food Code: Provides guidance in Chapter III about the microbiological maximum limits in foodstuffs of aquatic animal origin.
Labelling and packaging
Argentine Food Code: Provides guidance in Chapter IV about the necessary requirements for packaging.
Argentine Food Code: Provides guidance in Chapter V about the necessary standards for the labelling of food.
For products imported in Argentina, a label must include the following information in Spanish:
· Importer’s name and address;
· Country of origin;
· Establishment of origin (official number, and name and address);
· Ingredient declaration;
· Temperature range for maintenance requirements;
· Minimum durability; and
· Nutritional information.
Traceability
Decree No 1812 of September 1992: Provides general traceability requirements and guidance related to the imported food inspection advice, the treatment, destruction, or re-exportation of non-compliant food.
You can find the legal text at the following link:
www.anmat.gov.ar/webanmat/Legislacion/Alimentos/Decreto_1812-1992.pdf
National plan of action to prevent, deter and eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing: Aims at combating Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing and also promoting the sustainability of fisheries.
You can find the National Plan at the following link, only in Spanish version:
https://www.magyp.gob.ar/sitio/areas/pesca_maritima/plan/PAN-INDNR/PANpescailegal.pdf
How do you find the most recent consolidated version of the regulations?
To find the most consolidated version of the legal text, you can consult the following link:
http://www.infoleg.gob.ar/
Please select the type of legal text that you would like to check in “Tipo de Norma” and then write the number and the year in “Número” and “Año”.
Please find below the Argentine Food Code, only available in Spanish version:
https://www.argentina.gob.ar/anmat/codigoalimentario
Last update: 29/08/2022
Cover photo: unsplash Edi Libedinsky