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Members' Update 22/09
Dear members,
EU HEALTH CERTIFICATES
Today your Secretary General had a meeting with the European Commission about the proper use of the new health certificates. Although we did not get what we wanted (yet), at least we have clear information what is demanded at present.
How many certificates
Ornamental fish, crustaceans and mollusks each need a separate certificate, but the model should be the same. This means that if you ship all three animal groups, you should fill in three certificates of the same model, one for each group. If you only ship fish (cold water or tropical) they can all be on one certificate, except for some exceptional cases (see below).
The basis for this need for separate certificates is the need to include statistical numbers for the type of animals covered by the certificate: 030110 for ornamental fish, 0306 for crustaceans and 0307 for mollusks. A certificate is valid for only one statistic-number and can therefore be used only for this group.
In several EU member states where are charged per certificate this means that the inspection cost may triple, in others it doesn't make any difference as there the inspection is charged per shipment.
Open/closed facilities
Ornamental aquatic animals destined for closed ornamental facilities can be shipped on a model IV-B certificate, ornamentals for open facilities with model IV-A. Besides the difference in certificates, the legislation also differs quite a lot for closed or open facilities. It is of the utmost importance for the exporter to know whether an importer is open or closed. A shipment of fish for closed facilities may not be imported into an open facility and can be stopped at the border. For this reason an exporter should know about the status of the importer! So exporter: ask your customer!
Exceptional case
Ornamental fish, crustaceans and mollusks must be shipped on separate certificates. In the case of susceptible species in a shipment with different sources and exception may apply. For example for a country that has an eradication and surveillance program for KHV: if one shipment contains both fish that originated from a disease free farm and fish that went though a quarantine period, these two may not be shipped on one certificate. Reason: in the certificate it must be declared on what basis they areto be allowed into the EU and it is not possible to distinguish them by certificates if all are in one certificate. For the moment this is merely a theoretical issue but it has to be mentioned.
The EU will publish a guidance document about all this and as soon as we have it we will make it available to the members.
With kind regards,
Alex Ploeg
OFI Secretary General
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