1. All consignment of Indian Fishery products exported to the EU are required to be accompanied by a numbered original health certificate, comprising a single sheet duly completed, signed and dated. The original of the health certificate is required for customs clearance at the destination and shall be made available to the customs authorities at the destination before the arrival of the consignment. The consignments cannot be cleared on the basis of a copy of the original or on the basis of a fax copy of the original. Health Certificate to be given before shipment and cannot be given retrospectively.

2. Since European Commission has recognized the Export Inspection Council of India of Ministry of Commerce as the competent Authority in India for verifying and certifying compliance of Fishery and Aquacultural Products with the requirements of Directive No 91/493/EEC, all EU approved F and FP establishments are required to obtain Health Certificate from competent authority (EIC/EIAs) only.

3. Only the officials of Export Inspection Agency are authorized to issue and sign the health certificates for exports of fishery products to EC. As per the Directive it is clear that in case is found that an establishment has obtained health certificate from any authority other than Competent Authority, approval granted to their units for exporting to EU will be withdrawn forthwith.

4. Procedure :

4.1 The Health Certificate shall be issued only for fishery products processed in establishments/ factory vessels approved and monitored by the EIA.

4.2 The processor/exporter shall request for health certificate from the EIA concerned/ Sub-0ffice in the prescribed application form furnishing all necessary information along with:

a) A fee of Rs 10/ per certificate

b) The pink copy of the certificate for export (validity for which is 15 days from the date of issue) relating to the consignment issued by the approved processor.

4.3 The local office /sub-office of the EIA shall issue health certificate to the processor/exporter after satisfying itself that the fishery products are processed in approved establishments factory vessels having valid approval number and after satisfying the relevant requirements such as testing of every control unit(Production Code) by the unit of organoleptic and bacteriological factors and maintenance of test records. Health certificate meant for exports to EU shall be prepared in triplicate, the original for the exporter, forwarding to the importer, the pink copy for EIA Head Office and blue copy for the record of the concerned issuing office.

4.4 Each health certificate shall bear the name, capacity and signature of the representative of EIC and official stamp of EIC in a colour different from that of other endorsements. While issuing health certificate, the issuing officer must ensure that the colour of the signature is different from the colour of the printing of certificate. Since the certificate is printed in black. The signature must not be in black colour. The signature shall be in green or red colour on the original of the certificate. The copies of the certificate shall have the carbon impression of the signature.

4.5 The Health Certificate in the prescribed Proforma shall be issued to the approved establishment/factory vessel. The multilingual Health Certificate blanks supplied are in 4 types of language combinations and can be used for countries as shown below :

Language Combination	Countries to which it can be used
English/Italian/French	U.K, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, Ireland.
English/Swedish/Danish/ Finnish	U.K, Sweden,Denmark, Finland
English/German/Dutch	U.K, Germany, Netherlands, Austria
English/Spanish/Greek Portuguese	U.K, Spain, Greece, Portugal

4.5.1 The health certificate will be issued in a form, which contains the language of the destination port/country. However the entries to be made shall be in English.

Country of dispatch	Republic of India (printed)
Competent authority	Export Inspection Council of India - Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

4.5.2 Reference number of health certificate : Since no two certificates issued from India should have the same number, the given below system shall be followed for giving the reference number: Each Sub-office shall give serial number for each health certificate issued prefixed by agency/Sub-office codes. For example: Sub-Office :

Thoppumpady(Insp.)	CN/TY
Quilon	CN/QN
Alleppey	CN/QN
Quilon	CN/AY
Calicut	CN/CT
Mangalore	CN/MN
Karwar	CN/KR

As an example, the certificate issued by Sub-office: Thoppumpady will have a reference number: CN/TY/1, CN/TY/2 Note: Annexes of any, such as results of analysis shall have the same reference number as that of the health certificate. Other Agencies also follow the above procedure.

4.5.3 Species (Scientific Name) : Give the Scientific name. if correctly known e.g Penacus indicus. Metapenaeus affinis. Macrobrachium rossubergii etc. if in doubt about the correctness of the species name give only the family name e.g Penaeus spp., Palaemonidae spp., loligo spp. etc.

4.5.4 Presentation of the product and type of treatment : In the case of frozen fishery products, "frozen Product", "processed" etc, as appropriate, may be given. Frozen peeled-Undeveined/Frozen Peeled Deveined/Frozen Headless Shell-on/Frozen Cooked peeled Shrimp etc. can given.

In case of Fresh / Chilled fish	Chilled Fresh Fish
Type of packaging	Indicate the type of packaging such As Corrugated fibrebored Master Cartons
Number of Package	….Cartons (10 x 2 kg. per carton)
Net weight	Give the weight in kilogrammes

4.5.5 Temperature required during storage and transport : For frozen fishery products, write -18* C or below For chilled fresh fish, 0* C to 4* C.

4.5.6 Origin of products : Give the name address and approval number of the processor(s) establishment / Fresszer Vessel/Factory Vessel

Place of dispatch	Show the port of shipment, e.g Cochin, New Mangalore etc
Country and place of Destination	Show the country/place of destination e.g. The Netherlands/Rotterdam
Means of transport	Show as "By sea per vessels… (name of Vessel)" or "By air flight number….."
Name address of dispatcher	Show the name address of the actual Exporter, Exporter can be different from Processor.
Name of consignee address At place of destination	Here show the name address of importer or his nominee who receives the Consignment at the port of destination/place
Date of issue	Date of issue cannot be later than the date Of actual shipment as recorded in bill lading
Signature of official inspector	Show the name address of the actual Exporter, Exporter can be different from Processor.
Name address of dispatcher	Signature must be in a colour different From that of the printing of the certificate. Green or Red colour is recommend for Signing.
Name in capitals, capacity and Qualifications	Type the name of the officer qualification such as Bsc., M.Sc., D.F.P.T. etc. and the Official designation. The EIC seal be affixed At the bottom of the certificate.
Note: Issue of health certificate shall be limited to only the actual quantities produced / Processed by the establishment. In no case should the certifies quantity significantly exceed the production capacity, as assessed by IDP.