MEMORANDUM FOR: Seafood Inspection Program Staff and Program Participants
FROM: Steven Wilson, Director of Seafood Commerce and Certification
SUBJECT: European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Certification Policy
This memo serves as an update to NOAA Seafood Inspection Policy.
Currently NOAA Seafood Inspection Program policy states that all product exported to EFTA countries, require physical inspection. As of April 15th , 2019, physical inspection is no longer a requirement for product exported to EFTA countries. EFTA certification policy and procedure will now parallel that of EU certification policy.
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organization set up for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its four Member States: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. As countries that have signed the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, EFTA has adopted the certification and import requirements in place for the European Union (EU).
Certifying officers must verify that all firms that handled, processed or stored the product and its ingredients are listed as current approved shippers to the E.U.
US Facilities should appear on both the domestic FDA List and the European Union Approved list at the following links:
https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/sanco/traces/output/US/FFP_US_en.pdf
http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/ImportsExports/Exporting/
Certifying officers should verify that all foreign sourced material should be from manufacturing facilities listed at the following link:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/international/trade/third_en.htm
The certificate must be issued prior to departure. The original version of the certificate must accompany consignments on entry into EFTA country (original signature of an authorized officer, the name in capital letters, the qualification and title, and original stamp of the competent authority).