APPENDIX III

ANNEX 1
CRITERIA FOR A GENERIC CERTIFICATE FOR THE EXPORT OF FOOD AND FOOD PRODUCTS

Scope

1.   Certificates may be issued for a variety of purposes to satisfy specific market requirements. These might include provisions for minimal acceptable quality, freedom from contaminants or specific limits for contaminants, additives or residues of agricultural and veterinary chemicals, or that products were produced, handled, processed or transported under sanitary conditions meeting the requirements of the importing country, or those requirements of the exporting country if these were previously determined to be equivalent under an equivalence or other agreement.

2.   Certificates have taken many forms depending of the needs of the end-user. They may be product specific covering a commodity area, or cover one or a number of conditions, such as:

• health or sanitary requirements;
• quality or grade;
• origin;
• statement of content, for example, residue limit of a certain compound, or food additive;
• disease free status;
• composition or process requirements; or
• religious requirements.

However, all of these issues may be adequately covered in a multi-purpose certificate which covers all the areas common to the needs of trading countries and provide for the inclusion of specific issues.

3.   The certificate is the outcome of, firstly, ascertaining the relevant requirements of the importing country and, secondly providing a mechanisms to verify that the consignment conforms to those requirements at the time of certification. The requirements for a certification system to fulfil these functions comprise:

• government arrangements, including health, environment, endangered species, etc.;
• exporter to importer contractual arrangements;
• legal responsibility;
• management of resources, documentation, communication and review mechanisms.

4.   The following criteria focus solely on the issue of the physical certificate for purposes of government to government undertakings, or the discharge of international obligations.

Criteria for certificates

5.   All certificates contain fields of information about the identity of the product, the lot size and other essential details that will enable ready identification of the lot during initial or documentary checks by either customs or import inspection authorities, and certain data that enables the certificate to be authenticated. Such information normally required on certificates may be summarised under the following groupings:

Description of the Consignment

6.   This information covers a number of fields on the certificate which assists in the identification of the product at any stage of export or import. This should include at least:

1. Name and address of the exporter/consignor (person or company that is marketing the goods). This information may be used by the official certification agency, or officially recognised certification agency, which will require this information for traceback and audit purposes. It may include a local exporter's agent or shipper where an international company with a foreign address is nominated as the exporter.

2. Name and address of the consignee (person or company to whom the goods are being delivered or sold).

3. Transport details. This includes the mode of transport, the carrier (vessel or aircraft) identification, the port of loading, and the date of departure.

4. Declared point of entry. The final destination of the goods should be stated.

5. Distinguishing marks. Markings on containers should be included where they assist in identifying the consignment. Shipping container numbers and container seal numbers are also valid identifiers of consignments and may be included where known.

6. Number and type of packages.

7. A description of the goods including, for example, species, presentation, type of treatment, etc. Additional information in relation to, for example, types of treatments, should appear in a separate field, see i. below.

8. The total quantity that accurately reflects the lot size.

9. Other information. This may include information necessary for the importing country that does not form part of the description of the goods such as details of treatment of product, producing establishments, botanical names of plants, etc.

Country of origin

7.   This should reflect the place of production or, in the case of a processed food, the place where the product status changed³⁷.

Attestation

8.   This field provides for certifying the sanitary or phytosanitary status of the goods described in the certificate.

³⁷ Codex General Standard for the Labelling of Prepackaged Foods, Section 4.5, Codex Stan 1-1985 (Rev 1-1991); published in the Codex Alimentarius Volume IA, Rome 1995.

9.   In addition to the identification of the data related to the shipment, a certificate is a legal document that specifies the lot is in conformity or meets:

1. the specified food and/or production standards required by the importing country;

2. provisions of bilateral or multilateral agreements between the importing and exporting countries; and

3. in the absence of such provisions, the standards and requirements as agreed upon, with emphasis on the use of standards and codes of practice of the Codex Alimentarius Commission³⁸.

With regard to these points reference should be made to Article 6 of the Code of Ethics for International Trade in Food³⁹.

Declaration

10.   This should include the name of the government organisation, or its delegate, the country of issue, the official seal or stamp, and the signature of the inspector or qualified official representing the competent authority or its delegate.

Certificate identity/authenticating data

11.   The certificate should display sufficient information in terms of discreet identity to enable its authenticity to be validated, such as:

1. The name of the official agency and the country that issues the certificate.

2. Certificates should also carry a unique reference, either numerical or alpha-numerical, that enables easy identification, trace back, audits, and recordkeeping.

Model certificate

12.   A suggested model certificate, based on the United Nations Layout Key, and incorporating the relevant elements of the IPPC draft certificate and the proposed model certificate being developed by CCFFP, is at Annex 2. This provides an example of a layout that incorporates all of the information fields covered above.

³⁸ CX/FFP 96/2, Annex I (Draft Model Certificate for the Certification of Fish and Fishery Products).
³⁹ CAC/RCP 20-1979, Rev I (1985), published in the Codex Alimentarius Volume IA, Rome 1995.

ANNEX 2

MODEL CERTIFICATE