THIS REPORT CONTAINS ASSESSMENTS OF COMMODITY AND TRADE ISSUES MADE BY USDA STAFF AND NOT NECESSARILY STATEMENTS OF OFFICIAL U.S. GOVERNMENT POLICY Voluntary Public - Date: 2/7/2013 GAIN Report Number: Colombia Post: Bogota Report Update – Exporting to Colombia – Registering and Verifying Export Establishments for Meat and Poultry Report Categories: Exporter Guide FAIRS Subject Report Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards - Certification Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards - Narrative Poultry and Products Livestock and Products Approved By: Joe Lopez, Agricultural Counselor Prepared By: Anthony J. Gilbert, Agricultural Attaché Juan Sebastian Diaz, Agricultural Specialist Report Highlights: This report an update for U.S. exporters of meat and poultry products on the procedures for registering U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) federally inspected establishments with the Government of Colombia (GOC). Specifically, the GOC website to verify U.S. export establishments previously recommended in Report Update – Exporting to Colombia – Managing Port of Entry (POE) Issues for Meat and Poultry (11/2012) is unreliable and regularly down. This report will illustrate a more consistent and reliable approach to verify the listing. Also, it is recommended that the official letter to the GOC to register an export establishment be translated into Spanish in order to avoid confusion or issues with interpretation. General Information: Procedures for Export Establishment Registration: Colombia and the United States have an agreement that provides import eligibility of meat and poultry products with a packaging origin from any U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) federally inspected establishment. The GOC will only recognize those establishments that are listed in the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) Meat and Poultry Inspection Directory. As well, beef products must also originate from establishments approved under the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service Export Verification Program. The GOC Ministry of Health and Social Protection (MHSP) has procedure that requires all U.S. exporting establishments to register with the National Institute for the Surveillance of Food and Medicines (INVIMA), in addition to being listed in the FSIS Meat and Poultry Inspection Directory. In order to register with INVIMA, exporting establishments must provide the following information: Country of Origin Establishment Name Establishment Number Address Products that will be exported to Colombia Email address The information should be provided in a formal letter - in Spanish - and sent via courier or private post to: INVIMA Subdirector de Alimentos y Bebidas Alcohólicas (E) Carrera 68 D #17-11 Bogotá D.C.- Colombia To avoid potential POE problems, before shipping product it will be critical to verify the listing of the U.S. exporting establishment after submitting the required registration information. FAS/Bogotá recommends accessing the INVIMA web site directly (http://www.invima.gov.co/) to verify the listing. The directions below illustrate, step by step, how to navigate the INVIMA web site to locate the listing: 1. Once you are at INVIMA’s web page (see link above), select at the right-hand side “Inspeccion, Vigilancia y Control” (translated: Inspection, Surveillance and Control). 2. Click “ Direccion de Alimentos y Bebidas” (translated: Directorate of Food and Beverages). 3. Click “Acceso de Mercados” (translated: Market Access). 4. Finally, click “Establecimientos Autorizados por el INVIMA para importar carne, productos cárnicos, comestibles y derivados cárnicos de terceros países” (translated: Authorized Establishments by INVIMA to import meat, meat products and biproducts from third countries). 5. The list will appear as a table in a ‘pdf’ document. Other Relevant Reports Submitted by FAS/Bogotá: Report Subject Date Number Submitted Food and Agriculture Import Regulations and Standards 12/2012 Report Update – Exporting to Colombia – Managing Port of Entry 11/2012 (POE) Issues for Meat and Poultry