There are special stipulations on the following commodities when shipping to Spain. If you plan to ship one of the commodities listed below, be sure to adhere to the following stipulations in order to avoid delays and holds at customs.
- Products Of Animal Origin are goods which contain at least partly material derived from the body of an animal. These products can be divided in food or non-food.
Food means any substance, whether processed, semi-processed or raw, which is intended for human consumption, but does not include cosmetics or substances used only as pharmaceuticals.
Non-Food (not intended for human consumption) includes animal by-products, animal feed, samples for testing or research purposes (food-grade or non-food grade), and in vitro diagnostics (IVD).
Animal products and animal by-products are often subject to a veterinary inspection. These products can only be accepted under a special contract for International Special Commodities (ISC). In addition those products must undergo veterinary checks at an approved Veterinary Border Inspection Post (BIP) when entering the EU & EFTA countries or territories (EU regulations are aligned for EU countries or territories and NO; IS; CH; LI).
For UPS shipments arriving in the EU by air, Cologne is the first point of arrival /BIP. Inspections will be processed at Cologne but final customs clearance process will be issued in the destination country or territory.
Additional charges for Vet-inspection will be applicable see Brokerage Services and Charges.
Import requirements:
Generally, each type of Product of Animal Origin has specific import requirements that must be met. Food which is subject to veterinary inspections must:
Come from an EU listed Third Country or Territory (no safeguard measures in place)
Come from an EU approved establishment . Registered producers are listed under the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/food/international/trade/third_en.htm
Be accompanied by appropriate Health Certificate(s), signed by a veterinarian of the competent authority of country or territory of export. Photocopies of the Health Certificate will not be accepted.
Be appropriately packaged and labelled, indicating the nature, ingredients, quantity/ weight, the country or territory of origin and manufacturer.
Any foodstuff coming from non-approved establishments, sent as samples for testing purposes, can only be imported with a permit/license from a respective national veterinary authority. The permit/license must be send to the border inspection point responsible for the veterinary inspection. Delays may occur as the license needs to be provided already at the time of inspection.
Any non-compliant shipment must be returned at shippers expense immediately. The following exemptions apply to non-commercial shipments / gift shipments or purchased by private individuals for private consumption):
Meat, meat products, animal fat - max. 10 kg from Faroe Island and Greenland.
Fish and fish products (with intestines and organs removed) - max. 20 kg from all third countries or territories; no limitation from Faroe Islands.
Other animal products (for example, honey, egg, frog, live mussels - max. 10 kg from Faroe Islands and Greenland, and max. 2 kg from all other third countries or territories).
- Please see Animal Products and Food Supplements.
- Please see "Food Supplements".
- Please see "Animal Products".
- All food items shipped to Spain require a Sanitary inspection before customs clearance. Sanitary inspection requests the following documents:
Registration number of the importer at the Ministry of Health
Registration number of the importers warehouse facilities at the Ministry of Health
Certificate of analysis (with lot numbers and other identification mark) provided by the producer
Original letter from importer stating the intended use of the product
Individuals can import food in accordance with the Spanish health protocol. For these reasons, Spanish customs requests the following documents:
Original letter from importer stating the intended use of the product.
B2C below 150 EUR can be cleared with a letter of intended use of the goods declaring that they are an individual and are exempted of sanitary control.
B2C above 150 EUR needs to pass sanitary control, its the same for B2B.
However, Spanish Customs only allows to import as individual if the value of the goods is under 150 EUR and we are talking about e-commerce shipment or gifts between individuals.
- Customs classifies certain food supplements as medicine, especially vitamins and other products with physiological effects. Food supplements classified as medicine can not be imported without an import license.
Only authorized importers are allowed to import medicine. The importer has to provide an import permit issued by the Ministry of Health. The medicine must be registered in Spain, otherwise the importation will not be allowed. If the importer cannot provide an import license, then the goods will be returned to the shipper.
Private individuals cannot import medicine unless they can provide a medical prescription from a doctor and a special authorization from the Ministry of Health issued for the respective shipment. The documents are required prior to importation . If the private consignee cannot provide a prescription, the goods will be returned to the shipper.
A sanitary inspection may apply causing an import delay. Brokerage accessorial charges may apply.
- The European Union (EU) has placed an import ban on Honey from certain countries or territories.
Before shipping Honey to a European Union country or territory, it is highly recommended to contact your local chamber of commerce or your importer for detailed information.
If the importation is allowed by the European Union, the shipment must be accompanied by an original health certificate provided by the shipper/producer, otherwise, importation will not be possible. Furthermore, a vet inspection at the first point of arrival into the EU is required, even for sample shipments.
Brokerage accessorial charges will apply and an import delay may occur.
If the shipper fails to verify the import regulation of the destination country or territory and sends honey which is prohibited by the European Union, then all charges that may apply for the respective shipment will be billed back to the shipper.
- Data shipments to Spain require an invoice with the value of the CD-ROM or disk media (not the intellectual value of the content).
- Please see animal products.
- Medical devices (for example, used for dental or medical treatment) regardless of the value, require the following:
- Registration number of the importer's warehouse facilities at the Ministry of Health-Sanitary Department
- Declaration of Conformity provided by the shipper
- EC Certificate of Conformity provided by the shipper
- Original letter from importer stating the intended use of the product
A Health or Pharmacy Inspection may apply. Accessorial charges may apply.
- Please see food supplements.
- The invoice must include a description of the part, the type of machine for which the part will be used, and a list of the part's components.
- In order to clear sample shipments duty & tax free, the total invoice value may not exceed 22.00 Euro and the total weight of the shipment may not exceed 9 kg.
It is always the decision of customs to allow the entry as a sample shipment, duty and tax free. The invoice must include a description of the sample.
- In order to avoid wrong customs declarations at import, it is mandatory that the exporter provide very detailed information about the shoes (for example, what kind of leather, what material used for soles and uppers, what kind of shoes (sport shoes, sandals, boots), who is to wear the shoes (children, women, men).
- Most of modern test reagents for diagnostic research are built on antibodies which are generated from animal tissue. There are two types of antibodies, the monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal antibodies.
Monoclonal antibodies are generated in vitro. Tissue from animals are taken (e.g. blood) and infected with certain substances or pathogens. The blood cells react with the production of antibodies which are than harvested and used for the production of the test kits. Due to the in vitro production and the controlled way of production those types of test kits are not subject to veterinarian control if it is a commercial production.
Polyclonal antibodies are gained from living animals like rabbits. They are infected with the substances / pathogens and the animals are producing antibodies. The antibodies are harvested from the blood stream of the animals. Test reagents with polyclonal antibodies are subject to vet inspections.
In Vitoria Gateway it is necessary to get the approval of Sanitary Inspection.
Shipment documents (commercial invoice or declaration on letterhead) should include:
the place of origin of the material
the quantity of the material, in weight or volume
a description of the material/ animal source
catalogue number and price (if available)
additives (e.g., sodium azide, glycerol), their source (e.g., whole serum, supernatant, ascites), and purification, if any.
protocols the recommended protocol or datasheet indicating any unique fixation, detergent, blocking, or incubation conditions.
the intended use (commercial/ manufacturing; research/ testing)
the name and address of the shipper
the name and address of the receiver
Commercially packaged, ready-to-use In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) containing products of animal of origin, do not require a Vet-inspection, if compliant with Directive 98/79/EC on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices. A declaration of conformity (CE-marking) must be provided for each individual commodity (e.g. reagents, test kits, immunosorbent assays such as ELISA kits.
- Data shipments require an invoice with the character of the USB stick (storing intercompany data) and the value of the USB Stick.
- All veterinary products, such as surgical and hospital instruments or dental instruments do not require any additional documentation provided by the shipper. The importer has to provide a letter that confirms the intended use of the goods.
- Please see food supplements.