Sanitary-veterinary certification for export of products of animal origin shall be carried out before the goods are to be brought out of the territory of the Republic of Moldova. To be certified, the batch of products must be produced at an undertaking that holds the sanitary-veterinary authorisation to carry out this type of activity and falls under the supervision scope of the
National Food Safety Agency (ANSA)
Republic of Moldova, mun. Chișinău, str. Mihail Kogălniceanu, 63
tel: +373 (22) 26 47 30
email: info@ansa.gov.md
web: www.ansa.gov.md
Each consignment of products of animal origin intended for export must possess an original sanitary-veterinary certificate.
I. Types of sanitary-veterinary certificates issued by ANSA
1. Sanitary-veterinary certificate (Form 2), which certifies that the consignment of food products of animal origin has been subjected to expertise and is admitted for production. This Form is intended for the domestic market and for some countries that have not submitted specific requirements for the certification of products of animal origin and that accept the certificate concluded in the Romanian language and translated into English, if applicable. Form 2 is also used as a national certificate, to support the issuing of certificates agreed with the importing country. Thus, the Certificate agreed with the importing country bears the same number as the Sanitary-Veterinary Certificate Form 2. For EU countries, the Sanitary-Veterinary Certificate shall be completed in the TRACES system, based on the Certificate Form 2.
2. Veterinary Certificate (Форма 2 – CIS), in Russian, which certifies the followings:
- the producer of the batch of food products;
- the raw material used for the manufacture of the batch concerned has been subjected to the sanitary-veterinary expertise;
- the batch of products has been subjected to laboratory tests;
- food products are admitted for consumption.
The Certificate is intended for the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
II. Inspection of the batch and issuing of certificates
a) Lodging the application for certification and sampling
The application for the sanitary-veterinary certificate (.docx, .pdf) shall be lodged at the territorial food safety subdivision office in the area of storage of the cargo intended for export. The application may be lodged by the representative economic agent personally or by registered letter or by e-mail (as electronic document bearing the digital signature or as handwritten document scanned in .pdf format).
The application shall be attached all the relevant materials and documents: certificates, documents proving the origin and traceability of the consignment, laboratory test reports, commercial documents, import permit (if applicable), etc. Upon request, the economic operator may request the taking of samples from the consignment intended for export.
The application shall be directed towards the inspectors (official veterinarians) designated with the right to issue sanitary-veterinary certificates.
b) Inspection of the batch with sampling
The official veterinarian certifying the consignment in question shall travel to the place of storage or loading of the food products subject to certification and shall carry out the inspection of goods, to include several types of checks / controls.
1. Documentary check: The inspector shall check the documents for the purpose of verifying whether the information provided in the application is true as compared to the information included in the certificates and documents submitted by the economic operator. The information shall clearly refer to the batch(es) provided for certification. If clarifications or additional documents are required, the inspector shall request submission thereof by the exporter. The documents to be checked shall include as follows:
- Analysis reports on laboratory tests according to the self-control sampling plan implemented by the economic operator;
- Analysis reports on laboratory tests in accordance with the monitoring programs and sampling during the official control;
- Documentary compliance of the consignment with the import requirements of the country of the consignment destination for the product category certified.
2. Identity control and physical control include:
- The organoleptic analysis of the batch products for the purpose of determining the eligibility for export shall be carried out for each batch. The inspector shall draw attention to any sign that may indicate a possible deterioration or unsanitary condition (e.g. foreign odours, tears, dampening of the cardboard packaging or other evidence of improper handling or storage).
- Determining the temperature of the product and ensuring that the means of transport is able to maintain the temperature required during transportation;
- Humidity of the air in the storage space and hygiene of the warehouse;
- Verification that the measuring instruments are metrologically verified;
- Verification of the correctness of labeling and identification for compliance with the requirements of the importing country;
- Verification of product traceability from the origin of the raw material to the manufacture of the product certified. The inspector shall not be entitled to issue the sanitary-veterinary certificate for export where this information is not provided.
- Verification and assurance that the product certified and the raw material used for the manufacture thereof meet the requirements stipulated in the sanitary-veterinary certificate to be issued, and respectively to the import requirements of the country of destination. The procedure PS/SA-MSD-01/01 "Verification of traceability of food products" shall be used to verify traceability.
- Delimitation of the batch or batches forming the consignment. Thus, the sanitary-veterinary certificates shall be issued for each consignment of goods subject to sanitary-veterinary control, which may consist of several batches.
- Verification of the means of transport (to measure the storage temperature, hygienic conditions), registration numbers and the existence of the sanitary-veterinary authorization of the means of transport.
3. Sampling. The inspector shall take samples from the batch of products subject to certification, where:
- the economic operator requests sampling in the application for certification lodged;
- the importing country requires the laboratory analysis of all batches before shipment (as agreed by bilateral agreement or multilateral agreements);
- the importing country has previously rejected batches from the Republic of Moldova for products of the same category;
- the inspector suspects non-conformities of the product or of the production process;
- the tests made based on the monitoring or self-control programs are not sufficient.
Sampling is free of charge and shall be carried out in accordance with the Sampling Procedure. The inspector who collected the sample shall send the sample to the laboratory accredited for the type of laboratory analysis required.
The microbiological and chemical tests shall be conducted in the laboratories accredited and recognized by ANSA. In most cases, depending on the product, the samples shall be tested for microbiological indicators, residues of veterinary medicines, contaminants, hormones, physico-chemical characteristics.
4. Decision of certification. The inspector in charge for consignment certification shall decide whether or not to admit the consignment for export and to issue the sanitary-veterinary certificate. Where the inspector identifies that the product is not being handled or stored properly, he/she will not admit the batch until removal of the identified problems. Where the product is not labeled correctly, the inspector shall require correction.
When refusing to sign and issue a certificate, the inspector shall have clear arguments and sufficient reasoning to support his/her decision. For example: the documents and information submitted with regard to the consignment in question are not sufficient and therefore the inspector cannot verify whether the product meets the requirements of the importing country. In such cases, if discrepancies arise, the inspector shall duly notify the exporter and the central office of ANSA, in writing, on thereto. The exporter may correct the issues that led to the refusal of certification and may lodge a new application.
A file shall be drawn up for each export, containing the application and other sanitary-veterinary certificates of the raw material used for the manufacture of the consignment in question, as well as the copies of other traceability documents.
Where the application is not attached all the information required for decision-taking, the application shall not be accepted and the exporter shall be notified on the additional documents and acts to be submitted for certification.
Where the laboratory tests establish that the batch of products is non-compliant, a special procedure shall be carried out and adequate actions shall be undertaken with regard to non-compliant food products.
Note: Where samples have been taken, the certification decision shall be made only after receiving of the laboratory test results and examination thereof by the certifying inspector. The inspector shall grant the sanitary-veterinary certificate only if all the indicators tested are below the maximum admissible limits.
5. Completion and issue of certificates, Sealing of the load
ANSA shall issue the bill, which shall be further sent via e-mail to the applicant of the sanitary- veterinary certificate. The applicant shall pay the fixed fee or the fee calculated based on the quantitative components to the bank account indicated. The applicant of the sanitary-veterinary Certificate shall notify ANSA on the payment made for the services provided by submitting the copy of the payment order duly confirmed by the paying bank.
The inspector shall, after witnessing the loading of the batch of products designated for export, sign the sanitary-veterinary Certificate and shall hand it over to the representative of the economic operator, only after receiving the proof of payment for certification.
The sanitary-veterinary certificates shall be issued for the goods subject to the state sanitary-veterinary control and supervision. The sanitary-veterinary certificates shall be printed on standard forms, in accordance with the templates established by the Agency. The blanks of the sanitary-veterinary certificates shall be applied the series (in letters) and the serial number (in digits). The number of the blank represents the number of the sanitary-veterinary Certificate.
Upon completion of the certification procedure, the inspector shall seal the cargo and shall indicate, in the certificates, the number of the seal that has been applied.
The originals of the sanitary-veterinary certificates shall accompany the goods subject to the state sanitary-veterinary control until the final destination thereof.
For the EU, the certificate data shall be recorded in the TRACES system (Trade Control and Expert System) by the inspector who certified the consignment for export.
The sanitary-veterinary Certificate shall be issued to the applicant within 10 working days since the date of receipt of the application. The time limit may be extended if laboratory tests require longer time-periods. For separate batches of products of animal origin from a homogeneous quantity of such products, the sanitary-veterinary certificate shall be issued according to a simplified procedure, which shall not exceed a period of 5 working days.
Note: To carry out an exportation of productive animals, the economic operators shall obtain the sanitary-veterinary authorization of the exporting company.
To obtain the sanitary-veterinary authorization for operation, the economic operator shall lodge an application to the territorial food safety subdivisions, to which the following documents shall be attached (in copies and in original):
- the state registration certificate of the enterprise;
- the title deed or the contract for the use of the space area;
- the contract of service concluded with the partitioning veterinarian, certified under the terms of the law, who provides sanitary-veterinary assistance.
The animals purchased for export shall be accompanied by sanitary-veterinary certificates and shall be duly identified.
Additionally, the quarantine of the animals designated for export shall be carried out in accordance with the sanitary-veterinary terms and measures and the requirements established by the importing country, as well as the national sanitary-veterinary rules.
The clinical control of the animals followed by the issuing of the accompanying sanitary-veterinary documents shall be conducted within a maximum of 24 hours before exportation.
For the export of animal feed, the economic operators shall meet the following requirements:
- the economic operator holds the sanitary-veterinary authorization for operation and is included in the list of units authorized by ANSA;
- the feed is accompanied by a the sanitary-veterinary certificate (F-2, F-4) issued by ANSA;
- the feed is accompanied by a quality certificate issued by an accredited laboratory;
- the means of transport holds the sanitary-veterinary authorization issued by ANSA;
- observance of the minimum requirements on undesirable substances in animal feed
Legislation:
Customs Code of the Republic of Moldova no. 1149/2000
Law on 160/2011 on regulating the entrepreneurial activity through authorization
Law no. 221/2007 on the sanitary-veterinary activity
