Foods Principal

First, recipients of donated food products must submit the following documents to INAL (National Institute of Foods) reception desk:

 

A transportation bill: bill of lading, air waybill, waybill, mail tracking number, among others and as appropriate.

 

A packing list including the following: name, quantity and expiration date of the product.

 

A certificate, issued at its place of origin, stating that the donation is fit for human consumption. It must be considered that ANMAT regulation 5013/02 applies to foods derived from ruminants or having an additive derived from such animals, regardless of the documents mentioned above. Such regulation aims to tightening controls in order to avoid the inflow into Argentina of Bovine Spongiphorm Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as “mad cow disease”. As no means is still available to detect the agent causing this disease through technical analyses, some criteria were laid down to prevent the income of products that may cause BSE. Therefore, food release is governed by tight conditions based on the product type and country of origin. To such purpose, the following decision matrix was created. This matrix combines the “risk of the country” set in a decreasing order (from IV to I) and the “risk of the product” classified in an increasing order (from 1 to 4). The documents required for the inflow of donated food products vary according to their position in this matrix.

COUNTRY RISK (Levels IV, III, II, I)
IV	III	II	I
United Kingdom of Great Britain Northern Ireland and Man Islands Portuguese Republic	Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Canada Swiss Confederation State of Israel United States of America United Mexican States (Mexico) Russian Federation Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Ireland Japan Principality of Andorra Principality of Liechtenstein Kingdom of Belgium Kingdom of Denmark Kingdom of Spain Kingdom of the Netherlands Czech Republic Republic of Albania Republic of Austria Republic of Belarus Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Republic of Bulgaria Republic of Chile Republic of Cyprus Republic of Croatia Republic of Slovenia Republic of Estonia Republic of Finland Republic of Hungry Republic of Latvia Republic of Lithuania Republic of Malta Republic de Poland Republic of San Marino Republic of South Africa Republic of Turkey Slovac Republic Federal Republic of Germany Federal Republic of Yugoslav Republic of France Hellenic Republic (Greece Republic of Italy Romania Sultanate of Oman	Kingdom of Norway Kingdom of Sweden Kingdom of Swaziland Republic of Botswana Republic of Colombia Republic of Costa Rica Republic of El Salvador Republic of Kenya Republic of India Republic of Mauritius Republic of Namibia Republic of Nicaragua Federal Republic of Nigeria, Federal Republic of Brazil Islamic Republic of Pakistan	Australia, Iceland, New Caledonia New Zealand Republic of Argentina Republic of Panamá Republic of Singapore Republic of Vanuatu Republic of Paraguay Oriental Republic of Uruguay

PRODUCT RISK (1,2,3,4)
IV	III	II	I
1 Foods containing: head, brain, bone marrow, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia, mechanically recovered meat, viscera, tallow containing impurities insoluble in petroleum ether higher than 0.15.	PROHIBITED	PROHIBITED	PROHIBITED	RESTRICTED. Documentation required: (5), (11) y (12)
2 Foods containing: meat, mixed conserves, broth or the like, fat and derivatives, bone gelatin and collagen, among others included in the relevant regulation.	PROHIBITED	PROHIBITED	RESTRICTED Documentation required: (5), (11) y (12)	AUTHORIZED Documentation required: (1), (2), (3) y (4)
3 Liver, pancreas, bone tissue, nasal mucosa, peripheral nerves, bovine plasma.	PROHIBITED	RESTRICTED Documentation required: (5), (11) y (12)	AUTHORIZED (1), (2), (3) y (10)	AUTHORIZED Documentation required: (1), (2), (3) y (4)
4 Foods containing: milk and dairy products, de-proteinized broth or the like, gelatin or collagen prepared only from leather or skins, among others included in the relevant regulation.

(1) An original affidavit by the manufacturer rendering the origin of each of the ruminant-derived ingredients contained. Likewise, relevant documents supporting such origin shall be submitted. (2) Class, denomination, commercial name and batch number of the product. (3) Data of the manufacturer and importer. (4) An affidavit of the manufacturer stating ruminant derived raw material used in the production of the batch of product coming from the country in question (5) Certificates of animal derived raw materials, including dairies and those derived from them as agreed upon by the Argentine Health Authority and those of the various countries. Following are the countries with which a certificate model was agreed upon:

 

Germany (certificate 111).

 

Italy and Holland (models 100 and 110).

 

Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Russia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Slovenia and Greece (model 100). Countries not having agreed upon a certificate model with the competent National Health Authority shall also fulfill requirements set forth in items (2), (3), (7), (8) and (9). (6) A proof that the raw materials stated in the certificate and those used in product manufacture match. (7) A certificate stating that the raw materials used in the product manufacture come from establishments where the presence of BSE was never detected or suspected or a similar phrase. (8) A certificate stating that the animals of the establishment from where the raw materials come were not fed on ruminant-derived meat and bone flours. (9) Signature and print name of the relevant government official. (10) Certificates supporting the traceability of the raw materials declared in such certificate, which were used to manufacture the product and any other related piece of information as per the type of product, manufacture method and/or procedures supporting raw materials traceability. (11) Certificates of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) compliance in product manufacture. In all cases the certificates shall be certified by the relevant consulate and/or bear an Apostille by The Hague. The following are excluded: milk and dairy products and foods containing them, semen and in vivo handled and collected embryos in compliance with the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS) recommendations; leathers and skins (except for those of the head); gelatin and collagen prepared only from leather and skin (except those of the head); de-proteinized tallow (maximum insoluble impurity content allowed is 0,15% of the weight) and products derived therefrom; bi-calcium phosphate (without traces of protein or fat), all of which do not preclude the requirements laid down in ANMAT Regulation 6902/99. For all the above explained, Risk III or IV countries donation organizers should bear in mind that ruminant derived products or additives donations (such as meat), otherwise acquired at the market, are unlikely to be released in Argentina. This is so as any donor may hardly submit the documents required, which enable to rule out the presence of BSE in the products. In these cases, it is necessary to submit an official health document (original) certifying that the manufacturing process ensures the destruction of the classical swine pest virus (Senasa Regulation 122/98). After checking that documents comply with the above mentioned requirements, INAL inspectors will perform a sight inspection at the Customs Office area. Inspectors verify that the following conditions are met:

 

Products are in a good condition and so is the packaging (not opened or deteriorated)

 

Products are not expired. Should such conditions be met, products will be released with a permission to use them. In all cases, all products are required to be properly packaged and protected against possible bad weather and environmental conditions during transportation to destination and storage. Note: the requirements stated herein are those set by this Agency. It should be considered that, likewise, other Customs procedures are required.