Export of live animals, semen, embryos, hatching eggs and oocytes
Animals exported to third counties must be accompanied by an export certificate. The availability of such a certificate and/ or the type of certificate to be used must be verified before planning such an export.
First step is to verify whether a bilateral certificate is available. Bilateral certificates are generally the result of negotiations between the FASFC and the competent authority of the third country, and include the health conditions which must be met by the live animals/products in order to be exported to the third country in question. The health conditions may differ significantly from Belgian and European legislation.
If such a bilateral certificate is available, the exporter must verify whether the live animals/products for export meet the health conditions indicated in the relevant bilateral certificate.
If a bilateral certificate is not available for the relevant product – country combination, next step is to verify whether a non-negotiated country-specific certificate is available.
If such a non-negotiated country specific certificate is available, the exporter must verify that:
- the live animals/products for export meet the health conditions indicated in this certificate,
- the non-negotiated country specific certificate is accepted by the competent authority of the third country in question (to this end, contact must be made, via the importer, with the competent authority of the third country, or regional export promotion organisations must be called upon).
If there is no country-specific certificate model, no non-negotiated country-specific certificate or no specific requirements under "Certificates and company lists by country", this means that the FASFC is not aware of the requirements of this third country for the certification of the products in question. Where applicable, the general certificate may be issued at the exporter's risk. The operator must always verify that the certificate model that will be used complies with the requirements of the competent government of the third country of destination. For this purpose, the Belgian operator may contact the competent authority of the third country, for example via his potential customer or regional export promotion organisations. If the third country of destination has more specific requirements, the operator must submit it to the certifying agent so that a country-specific certificate can be drawn up.
If a general certificate is available, the exporter must verify that
- the live animals/products for export meet the health conditions indicated in the general certificate,
- the general certificate is accepted by the competent authority of the third country in question (to this end, contact must be made, via the importer, with the competent authority of the third country, or regional export promotion organisations must be called upon).
In the general certificates for live animals/products, the possibility is provided to add additional declarations, if these are required by the authority of the third country (obligation to demonstrate proof). These declarations must then be presented at time of certification, together with a sworn translation of these declarations into French or Dutch (depending on the province in which the certification takes place) and, if necessary, the other required documents.
Once the certificate to be used is identified and the live animals/products for export meet the health conditions indicated in this certificate, the exporter must contact the local control unit of the province where the consignment is located, in order to arrange a certification appointment.
If none of the above mentioned type of certificate is available, or the non-negotiated country-specific certificate/general certificate is not accepted by the country of destination, the health conditions must be requested from the competent authority of the third country. To this end, contact must be made, via the importer, with the competent authority of the third country, or a professional association or regional export promotion organisations must be called upon (who can enquire with the competent Belgian diplomatic post for the third country in question).