What is veterinary export certification?
It is the assurance by the relevant role-players in the exporting country to the relevant role-players in the importing country that the animal or product complies with the requirements of the importing country.
The following principles apply:
- The importing country makes the rule
- The exporting country must comply
- Certification must be accurate
The legal parameters for veterinary export certification are set by national legislation in the form of:
The Animal Diseases Act (Act 35 of 1984) and the related published Regulations
The Meat Safety Act (Act 40 of 2000) with the Red Meat Regulation published on 17 September 2004
The Veterinary and Para-Veterinary Professions Act (Act 19 of 1982)
The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996).
Veterinary Procedural Notices (VPNs) are created based on relevant legislation and cover the practical execution of state veterinary functions. The main VPN applicable in this context is Veterinary Procedural Notice (VPN-2002-17) Principles of Certification. Other VPNs may apply to different commodities i.e. VPN04 for registration of ostrich holdings for export purposes.
It is the exporters’ responsibility to get hold of and to present the requirements for the commodity that has to be certified for export to the certifying veterinarian. This is usually in the form of an import permit. Some countries do not issue veterinary import permits for each import but instead have standing regulations. Templates incorporating these requirements have been drawn up and are used as combination export certificates / veterinary health certificates.
Exporting pet dogs and cats from the Western Cape
Pets travelling out of South Africa generally require a Veterinary Health Certificate certified by a state veterinarian. We have compiled some info sheets to assist you with your travels but these are to serve as a guide only and you are ultimately responsible for obtaining the import requirements from the country you are travelling to. If the information we provide differs in any way from the information received from the importing country please let us know so that we can update our information.
Want to know where the closest export certification office is?
22 lobelia Street Milnerton it will be open to assist with pets leaving South Africa from the Western Cape by appointment only. Main times are 09:00 to 12:00, The main contact numbers are 021 808 5400, 5401, 5407 or email vetexport@westerncape.gov.zaPets entering South Africa Dogs and cats entering South Africa need to have an import permit. The Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in Pretoria is responsible for issuing import permits. You can contact them on: 012 319 7559 or 012 319 7514 vetpermits@daff.gov.za You can also find information here.
Country | Info sheet | Template certificate for the private veterinarian |
Angola | ||
Australia | ||
Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe | ||
Canada | ||
European Union | ||
Indonesia | ||
Kenya | ||
Malaysia | ||
Namibia | ||
New Zealand | ||
Nigeria | ||
United Arab Emirates | ||
United Kingdom | Commercial pets to the UK | Western Cape private veterinarian template There are new templates available for travel companies. The vets can use the templates for the EU for health checks. |
United States of America | ||
Other |
Registration of holdings from which pets must come from for commercial exports to the EU
The owner of the holding should make contact with the local state veterinary office in the area the holding is.
The procedure for registration is dependent on the following:
- the disease status of the area in which the holding is located
- the number of animals that are to be sent and the
- frequency that animals are to be sent from that holding
- risk analysis conducted by the state veterinarian
Where the procedure determined by the state veterinarian of the area has dictated that ZA registration of the holding is necessary, the client should follow the procedure for obtaining a ZA registration number.
Requirements for export certification of products
An import permit from the country you wish to export to. These are usually issued by the Department of Agriculture in the relevant country.
All production facilities in the chain (including cold stores) must be registered to export –they must have a ‘ZA’ approval number.
Product must be traceable through all production facilities in the production chain.
Where required by the importing country the animals from which the product is derived must be traceable to and originate from approved farms (compartments).
The product must be handled in a suitable manner and this should be proven in some way.
The products should be identified accurately enough to prevent the export of product with an unknown origin using the same documentation.
Certain commodities need to be inspected by state veterinary officials before an export certificate can be signed. This is usually determined by the commodity but, can be a requirement of the certificate
Procedure
All relevant documentation must be supplied to the State Veterinary office by the exporter when initially applying for export certification. These can be e-mailed to vetexport@westerncape.gov.za
In the case of consignments requiring inspection, please refer to the document ‘Western Cape Export certification Manual: Guidelines for Clients’.
Document use | Download |
|---|---|
Application for inspection | |
HS code search | |
Tariffs and Fees | Register 2020 |
Registration of an export facility
Export certification can only be done for products originating from facilities specifically registered for this purpose with the Department of Agriculture.
You may only export animals or animal products if they come from premises that comply with international standards or the legislation of the importing country. These premises could be an approved abattoir, quarantine station, artificial insemination centre, embryo collection centre, farm, feedlot, food processing factory, food storage premises, etc.
Document and procedures
This is a collection of documents and procedure that will help you to get your facility ready for export, export a product and interact with our offices.
Comments on the documents below can be sent to vetexport@westerncape.gov.za
| Document title | Document number and version | Date by which comments are requested |
| Info Sheet for exporting pet food to the EU | 05 July 2017 | |
| Info sheet for exporting dairy to the EU | 05 July 2017 | |
| HS code search | Ver 1.1 | When needed |
| ECOS Terms and Conditions for comment | Ver 1 | 22 December 2022 |
| Document title | Document number and version | Date updated |
|---|---|---|
| Western Cape Export Certification Manual :Guidelines for Clients | 1 of 2022 | 10 October 2022 |
| Tariffs 2020 | 23 July 2020 | |
| Audit Procedure | SOP 12 ver 2 | 30 Oct 2014 |
| Standard relating to the layout, construction, operational procedures and food safety requirements at approved export meat processing facilities. | PPN 01/2020 | 3 Mar 2020 |
| Interim ZA audit response to COVID 19 outbreak | Version 2 | 1 Jul 2020 |
The content on this page does not originate from the Western Cape. This page is an attempt to make the information available to our clients but all information should be confirmed with DALLRD or from DALLRD-VPN’s
| VPN Number and year | Title | Date added |
| VPN 00 2008 | Definitions | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 01 2007 | Procedures to register establishments as approved to export meat products | 29 Apr 2019 |
| VPN 04 2 2012 | Standards for the registration of ostrich farm for export (Note: This VPN has got biosecurity manuals that need to be read with it) | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 05 2017 | Standard for the registration of a game farm for export | 31 Jan 2017 |
| VPN 07 2007 | Standard for the registration or re-registration of crocodile farm for export status | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 08 2017 | Standard for Game harvesters | 31 Jan 2017 |
| VPN 09 2017 | Meat inspection for game | 31 Jan 2017 |
| VPN 10 2007 | Standard for post-mortem meat inspection and hygiene control at game meat establishment | 29 Apr 2019 |
| VPN 13 2007 | Standard for antemortem post-mortem meat inspection hygiene control at ostrich meat establishment | 29 Apr 2019 |
| VPN 14 2007 | Standard for antemortem and post-mortem meat inspection and hygiene control at crocodile meat establishment | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 15 2012 | standard for microbiological monitoring of meat, process control, cleaning and Trichinella controls | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 16 2015 | Microbiological requirements for water | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 17 2 2007 | Principles of Certification | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 18 2007 | Law enforcement at export establishments | 29 Apr 2019 |
| VPN 19 2011 | National Residue Monitoring Program | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 20 2010 | Approval of dairy export establishments | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 21 2002 | Registration of private quarantine station for birds for import | |
| VPN 22 2002 | Registration of private import quarantine station for reptiles | |
| VPN 23 2002 | Registration of Veterinary approved Tannery | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 24 2009 | Registration of A Veterinary Approved Taxidermy | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 25 2007 | Export of raw hides and skins from South Africa | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 31 2009 -01 | Registration of feed mills as a source of feed to farms approved for export to the European Union | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 31 2009 Semen and embryos centres 2009 | Standard for the registration and maintenance of quarantine facilities for collection of bovine/ovine semen and embryos for export. | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 33 2010 | Control measures to be taken when the European Union approved meat is imported into South Africa with a view to process and export it to the European Union market | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 38 2011 | Standard for the registration of a veterinary-approved cold storage facility for imports and/or exports | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 39 2011 | Procedures for the importation, movement and processing of uncooked pork and uncooked pork products from countries that are not free from Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), including the requirements for state veterinary-approved pork processing and packing facilities | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 39 2011-01 | Standard for the registration of an approved pig compartment | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 41 1 2012 | Standards for the registration of a veterinary approved farm feed/mixing establishment for export | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 42 1 of 2013 | Procedures for the importation, movement and processing of uncooked pork and uncooked pork products from countries that are not free from Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS), including the requirements for state veterinary-approved pork processing and packing facilities. | 27 Nov 2018 |
| VPN 43 1 2012 | Standards for the registration of a veterinary-approved pet food / Sterilising establishment for export | |
| VPN 44 2012-01 | Standards for the inspection of poultry farms for export | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN 47 2014-01 | Standard for the registration of a vector protected quarantine facility for export | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN FMD 2014 | Veterinary procedural notice for Foot and Mouth Disease control in South Africa | 29 Oct 2015 |
| VPN55 2018 01 | Standards for the implementation of animal welfare practices for ostriches to be transported to and slaughtered at EU and USA approved export abattoirs | Jan 2018 |
| VPN 59-2019-10 | Registration and maintenance of approved establishments for the export of animals and animal products to markets which have import requirements different from the South African national standard (split system). | Jan 2021 |
| GUIDELINES FOR THE SAMPLING, TRANSPORTATION AND HANDLING OF SAMPLES FOR MICROBIOLOGICAL MONITORING OF MEAT. | Sept 2021 |
Export certificate and Movement permit Templates
This page has been created to give the export-registered companies of the Western Cape access to the most current templates that are required for applying for export certificates or movement permits the Western Cape State Veterinary services. These templates are subject to change without any notice.
Please note
If your situation differs in any way from the proposed process, or if you have information from the veterinary authority of the importing country that differs from the process, or certificate described below, please contact your local state veterinarian to discuss the matter. Exporters are advised to verify the requirements of the importing country by contacting the veterinary authorities, or their representatives in the importing country or South Africa, in advance of each consignment.
Document status:
Cleared: Certificate has been accepted
Cleared certificates can be used at your own risk as they are not based on documented agreements or any official import permit. Indemnity forms are required before veterinarians issue these certificates
Uncleared: Certificate has not been accepted
Uncleared certificates have not been used before and it is not known if they will be accepted or not. Indemnity forms are required before veterinarians issue this certificate
Agreed: Certificate has been accepted and the certificate is based on an agreement or import permit
Agreed certificates are the best type of templates to use as they have been used before and are known to be accepted. It is still, however, important to check with the importing country before the product leaves South Africa.
State vet offices
Worcester State vet office
Contact details: Ansulize.Pepler@westerncape.gov.za tel: 021 808 5059
Our offices are located at 30 Van Arckel Street, Worcester.
GPS coordinates 33.623641 S, 19.457008 E
Clients are assisted by appointments only – please make an appointment timeously by contacting Dr Christi Kloppers, as the State Vet is not always available.
Milnerton Veterinary export certification office
Contact details: vetexport@westerncape.gov.za, Tel: 021 808 5400
located at 22 Lobelia Street, Milnerton,
GPS Co-ordinates: 33.866870 S 18.503029 E
At Milnerton Export Certification Office, clients are assisted by appointment only from Monday to Friday from 08:30 am to 12:00 pm (excluding public holidays).
To make an appointment, clients are required to send an e-mail to vetexport@westerncape.gov.za with their required time slot. Please indicate the number of and destination of pets in your e-mail when you make an appointment with us. Should your requested time slot not be available our office will call/e-mail you to reschedule.
Clients are required to make an appointment at least 2 days in advance.
Head office of the Department of Agriculture at Elsenburg /Boland state vet office
Contact details: svboland@westerncape.gov.za, tell: 0272013510, fax: 021 808 5125
Our offices are located at the Head office of the Department of Agriculture at Elsenburg. When searching on Google maps, use ‘Provincial Department of Agriculture’ alternatively,
GPS Co-ordinates Elsenburg Head Office: 33.845259 S 18.834722 E
Clients are assisted by appointments only on Monday Wednesday and Friday from 08:30 am to 12:00 pm
George State vet office
Contact details : SVGeorge@westerncape.gov.za Tel: 044 803 3770/1; Fax 044 873 3342
Our offices are located at 4 Varing Avenue George.
GPS coordinates 33.57.31 S, 22.27.16 E
Clients are assisted by appointments only – please make an appointment timeously by contacting the office as the State Vet is not always available
Vredendal State vet office
Contact details: deidre.daniels@westerncape.gov.za tel: 027-2133106; fax 027-213 3109
Our offices are located on the corner of Matzikama Street and North Road, Vredendal.
GPS coordinates 31.662625 S, 18.507298 E
Clients are assisted by appointments only – please make an appointment timeously by contacting Deidre Daniels as the State Vet is not always available.
Malmesbury State vet office
Contact details : samantha.burger@westerncape.gov.za Tel: 022 433 8910
Our offices are located at on the corner of Spoorweg and Municipal Streets, Malmesbury.
GPS coordinates 33.465701 S, 18.721446 E
Clients are assisted by appointments only – please make an appointment timeously by contacting Samantha Burger as the State Vet is not always available.
Swellendam State vet office
Contact details : christi.kloppers@westerncape.gov.za Tel: 028-425 4850;
Our offices are located on the main road, 67 Voortrek Street, direct at the back of ABSA bank.
GPS coordinates 34.02126 S 20.44140 E
Clients are assisted by appointments only – please make an appointment timeously by contacting Sanita Gunter as the State Vet is not always available.
Oudtshoorn State vet office
Contact details: cathy.fox@westerncape.gov.za Tel: 044 203 9443; Fax: 044 279 1910
Our office is located at 39 Van Der Riet Street, Oudtshoorn
GPS coordinates: -33.583576 S 22.197837 E
Clients are assisted by appointments only – please make an appointment timeously by contacting Cathy Fox as the State Vet is not always available.
Beaufort West State vet office
Contact details : jaco.pienaar@westerncape.gov.za Tel: 023-4142154; Fax 023 414 3980
Our offices are located in Blyth Street, Beaufort West.
GPS coordinates 32.375009 S, 22.589063 E
Clients are assisted on Tuesday and Friday only from 10h00 -12h00– please contact Veronica Johannes as the State Vet is not always available.
ECOS
Due to the location and history of South Africa, we have an extremely diverse set of products, factories, and processes. We also have a complex food and export legislative system with different authorities (>6 religious, state and authorised signatories) with overlap between authorities as often we work on similar products and the same locations. Due to our endemic diseases, our rich diversity of wildlife, and animal health system we need to have a systems approach to disease risk mitigation and international trade in animal products. We must therefore focus on commodity-based trade and compartmentalisation if we are to remain internationally relevant when it comes to trade in animal products.
South Africa is busy with a project called LITSSA (Livestock Identification and Traceability System South Africa) which is divided into two main parts.
- Identification and traceability of cattle (for now) from birth to abattoir.
- Identification and traceability of products from abattoir to export or retail
The Western Cape is developing and piloting ECOS as we have over 160 export factories and experience in many different types of production processes as well as retail export. We are hoping ECOS will become the national system for composite and animal-based products.
South Africa currently has no electronic system, which tracks the movement of animal products, that are to be exported in line with the guidelines of the Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.
An electronic data management system – Export Control Office System (ECOS) – is being developed by the Western Cape Government to address these deficiencies and create a platform that supports market access and export certification in line with global standards.
South Africa has a Ecert system that is linked to the plant hub and ECOS will “talk” to the rest of the world via that system to create a unified international view of South African products.
ECOS is a cloud hosted, web-application for electronic export management. The system is being developed by the Western Cape Government and is completely government owned. It is developed to support trade by ensuring that all export compliance information is located in one place that is easy to navigate and well defined.
The goal of ECOS is to
- simplify and expedite the clearance of the consignment at the point of entry or the point of control
- provide for accurate identification of the consignment being certified and the parties involved in the production and issuance of the certificate
- facilitate the importing country’s assessment of the validity of the certificate
- minimize the potential for fraud
ECOS will form part of a Single Window facility providing trade facilitation that allows parties involved in trade and transport to lodge standardized information and documents with a single entry point to fulfil all import, export, and transit-related regulatory requirements where individual data elements should only be submitted once electronically.
ALL clients that export a product or a commercial live animal must register on Ecert and ECOS if they want to export from the Western Cape.
If you would like to access the system to see information about your company, you will need to do the following in preparation:
Follow the getting started guideline on https://ecert.co.za/getting-started/ and complete steps one and two of the guide
- register as a new user
- register a business
For more information on this process visit: https://cbr.ecert.co.za/ and https://ecert.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2-Central-Business-Register.mp4
To register on ECOS
- Go to https://mygovapps.westerncape.gov.za and register a user account by clicking the external user login button
- Send doa.ecos@westerncape.gov.za an email indicating the company name, the email of the registered users as well as any factories and farms those users need to be linked to
Go to our training system and register a user account https://mygovapps-training.westerncape.gov.za/ by clicking on the external user login button. Once completed send doa.ecos@westerncape.gov.za an email indicating the register users’ email as well as any factories that need to be created in the training environment.
In ECOS’s design we define:
- Recipes (based on economic value (HS code), species content, processing, and storage conditions)
- Products (recipes, batch codes and weight)
- Locations (GPS, type of facility, ownership, and accreditations)
- Businesses (Ownership of locations and products)
- Export certificate templates (Target markets and products involved)
Each of the design elements are meant to have multiple activities or attributes that can be attached to them such as tests (location tests, such as audits or surveillance sampling, product tests such as a specific product bacteriology or antemortem inspection) and general attachments (PDF/Images)
Webinar
Towards an enhanced traceability in the animal protein food system in South Africa -ECOS
Steering committee meetings
30 July 2020
Project phases
- Establishment of basic structures and public testing starting on the 18 September 2020 and ending on the 16 October 2020 in the pig industry of the Western Cape.
- Development, testing and release of government office management features released on the 3 November 2021
- Development, testing and release of inspection application forms and the generation of movement templates from ECOS expected release 31 March 2022
- Enhancements of previous phases based on user feedback release expected 31 June 2022
- Dairy industry rollout of Electronic movement permits expected April 2023
- Marketing features April 2023
Current features
Establishment Details and Establishment Products
Reception can update Establishment details, establishment owners and or representatives can capture their blueprint products on ECOS, this include the core blue print product which defines the product ingredients, processes and brand, they can also indicate the potential target market(s) for the product, once captured the Technical Advisory will either approve or reject the blue print product, they will also approve or reject the potential target market(s), the establishment owner/representatives can view the reason for the decision on the system.
Permits and Bills
Clients apply for export permits via email, the details of the permits issued will be captured in ECOS, client bills will be generated and issued from ECOS, clients can acknowledge or dispute the bill online or if the client visit’s the Milnerton office in person the Reception can capture the bill acknowledgement/dispute on behalf of the client. Reception will capture the details of the bill payment on ECOS (bills settled in person, client made payment by credit or debit card).
Movement permits are generated electronically and have QR codes for verification preventing fraud and increasing the speed of application processing. This feature is being phased in based on demand from industries.
Invoices
Finance officials will have a view of the statuses of client bills (issued, acknowledged, paid, not yet paid) they will be able to determine the clients that require invoices. Invoices are issued from the accounting system, and the details of the invoices issued are captured on ECOS as well as the details of the invoice payments.
Non-Conformances
Officials can log non-conformances identified and set the due date by when the client need to correct the non-conformance. o Clients can acknowledge or dispute the non-conformance and also upload evidence of non-conformance correction.
Inquires
ECOS enable clients to easily raise any issues or concerns they might have, queries can be logged online, it will be handles via online chat feature allowing the client to view the responses from the officials in real-time.
