Steps Involved in Getting Export Permit for Fish and Fish Products

There are a lot of chances to go wrong with documentation for exporting commodities in the categories of fish and fish products. Not only the first-time and inexperienced exporters, but also the experienced ones may fail to follow the right procedures. For example, obtaining export permit requires one to go step by step in the correct order.

To begin with, the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment issues export permits as well as health/phytosanitary certificates for plants and animals products. Now, the Department prescribes that the exporters must prepare well before submitting a permit request. The very first thing to know is how to differentiate between different product types.

It should be noted that commodities in the fish and fish products categories include both prescribed and non-prescribed goods:

• Prescribed Goods: These include items like seafood proposed for human consumption and that has fish as the chief ingredient. As a rule, these goods require export permits as well as health certificates. An exporter must prepare a health certificate as per the requirements of the importing country.

• Non-prescribed Goods: These include items like shells and seaweed as well as products that don’t have fish as the chief ingredient. Unlike prescribed goods, these goods don’t require export permit. However, you may still need to prepare a health certificate if the importing country demands it.

In addition, these are goods like live fish which is not proposed for human consumption. In that case, the documentation procedures for exporting live animals must be referred to.

So, you have already learnt above the first two steps involved in preparing and submitting a request for permits. These are:

• Know the right category of products and make preparations for the required documents.

• Get familiar with importing country requirements. For this, you can refer to the Manual of Importing Country Requirements (MICoR).

Besides, you need to take the following subsequent steps to complete the process:

• Register with the Department: Following the first two steps, you need to register with the Department to submit request for export permits. You may register as an exporter if you wish to export your own foods. Apart from that, you may register as an export establishment dealing in fish and fish products for export purposes in one way or the other.

For instance, you may be a freight forwarder, processor or storage and packaging facility provider. Importantly, if you are exporting goods from some other manufacturer, you must ensure that the manufacturer owns a registered export establishment.

• Prepare the Required Proofs: In case you manufacture products in these categories, you must prepare a declaration of compliance. The declaration has many purposes. First, it declares that the products are fit for consumption by humans.

Second, it should mention that the goods are in accordance to the importing country requirements and so on. Also, you must prepare a transfer declaration if the goods travel from one registered export establishment to another before they are finally dispatched for shipping.

• Apply for Permit: After all these preparations, you are ready to submit a request for permit with the Department. For that, you can use an electronic export documentation tool that complies with the Department’s EXDOC system. The Department verifies the information you provide in the application and follow the product inspection procedures. Once they find everything in place, they issue export permit as well as the required health certificate.

To conclude, applying for export permit for fish and fish products is a simple process, provided you follow the right steps. Additionally, it is also recommended to keep a watch on the industry updates and use a good export software to make things simpler.