More and more non-traditional products have opened a market outside of Ecuador. Having the Phytosanitary Export Certificate is mandatory for all companies or SMEs that wish to carry out the process of homologation of sanitary requirements with importing countries for both livestock and plant products.
Livestock products, such as leather of Ecuadorian origin, have been exported for decades.
The Agency for Regulation and Control of Phytosanitary and Zoosanitary (Agrocalidad) is the one that issues this endorsement and the steps to obtain it are different between livestock and vegetable products.
In the case of plant products, necessary for all fresh or minimally processed plant products, the potential future exporter should take the following steps:
1. Register as an operator in the GUIA Agrocalidad system and in the Ecuadorian Single Window (VUE) of the National Customs Service of Ecuador (Senae). This process is done online, has no cost and is done at the following links: https://guia.agrocalidad.gob.ec/agrodb/ingreso.php and https://portal.aduana.gob.ec/de .
2. Request the phytosanitary inspection, which will be carried out immediately. The interested party must ensure that their product has complied with the procedures or treatments required by the importing country (industrial drying, heat treatment, fumigation, among others).
The inspection is requested via email to the technicians of the province where the product is ready for export, at least 48 hours before departure. Once the inspection is finished, the inspector will deliver a report, which is used to request the Phytosanitary Export Certificate through the VUE portal.
3. Obtaining the Phytosanitary Export Certificate. Once the favorable inspection report has been obtained, the user must request for each shipment the Phytosanitary Export Certificate on the VUE portal attaching the inspection report carried out and will be assigned a code to cancel the respective fee at the agencies of the Banco Guayaquil or Banco del Pacífico.
Once canceled, the user must go to the control point -that is, to the Agrocalidad offices, located in ports, airports or border crossings-, where the Certificate that will accompany the product until it enters the importing country will be delivered.
In the last three years, the issuance, through the Animal Health Coordination, must comply with two processes. In 2019, 241,276 were issued; in 2020, 193,640; and this 2021, until September, 294,408 certificates have been issued.
In the case of livestock products, through the Animal Health Coordination, two processes must be followed.
1) Register as an exporter of livestock goods by approaching the office of the District Directorate of Agrocality of the province where the company is located to request an inspection that evaluates whether the company complies with the sanitary parameters required by the importing country.
2) Obtain the Animal Health Export Certificate (CZE) of livestock goods, for this the exporter must:
- Register as a foreign trade operator in the Senae Ecuapass System through the VUE and each export must declare the livestock merchandise that is going to leave.
- Register as an exporter in the Agrocalidad GUIA system to receive the inspection visit of the livestock merchandise by the entity.
Agrocalidad has in its registry that under the figure of exporter, so far this year, there are three companies; Last year there were seven, in 2019 there were nine and in 2018 there were eight.
Regarding the CZE, the entity has issued 293 certificates from January to October; last year, 268; the 2019, 346; and 317, in 2018. (I)
