Date of issue: 22 July 2019
Date of effect: Immediate
Reference Number: MAA2019-12
Attention:
- Industries—Industry bodies – Dairy Australia
- Export dairy establishments
- Licensed exporters
- Department of Agriculture—Central and Regional offices
Purpose
- To advise export registered dairy establishments that Mexico requires additional information beyond what appears on the standard template to be included on the official export Health Certificate for edible dairy products.
Summary of key points
- The Department of Agriculture has been notified by Mexico’s biosecurity agency, Servico Nacional de Sanidad, Inocuidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria, that Mexico’s Federal Animal Health Law requires the following information to appear on health certificates (in English and Spanish) for all animal products for human consumption:
-
- Batch number/ Número de Lote
- Packing date/ Fecha de empaque
- Expiry date/ Fecha de caducidad
-
- The information on the certificate must be consistent with information printed on the product label, and is subject to verification by port officials.
- Effective immediately, consignments that do not comply may be refused entry into Mexico.
Action Required
- In order to comply with Mexico’s requirement, exporters of edible dairy and dairy products must manually enter the information into the ‘Additional Information’ section of the Request for Permit (RFP).
- Please note that while some of the above information may already be entered in the RFP, it does not appear on the certificate. It is necessary to add the information in the ‘Additional Information’ data field.
- For pending consignments, where an RFP has been ordered, exporters are advised to make an amendment to the existing RFP.
- The Manual of Importing Country Requirements has been updated to capture this requirement.
- Any exporters experiencing difficulty with clearance of consignments, or with consignments on the water, are asked to contact the department via foodexportdocumentation@aff.gov.au.
Further information
Contact dairyeggsfish@aff.gov.au if you have any queries.
The information provided in this advice is current at the time of writing and is intended for use as guidance only and should not be taken as definitive or exhaustive. The Commonwealth endeavours to keep information current and accurate, however, it may be subject to change without notice. Exporters are encouraged to verify these details with their importers prior to undertaking production/exports. The Commonwealth will not accept liability for any loss resulting from reliance on information contained in this notice.