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For Your Information: F1-04 Export of Blood Byproducts to Korea

New Zealand Food Safety Authority
Date: 14 January 2004
From: Neil M^cLeod, Programme Manager (Market Access: Asia-Pacific)

Recent cases of delays at entry to at least one port in Korea suggest that the AgM123 certificate used for shipments of blood sera materials to Korea may need an additional declaration on the certificate to be judged acceptable by the border inspectors. For practical reasons, and for a few weeks while a longer-term solution is worked on to confirm certification arrangements, the following declaration may be added (in addition to any other required declarations) to the main panel on shipments of blood sera materials (from all species) to Korea:

New Zealand disease control policy does not include vaccination against animal diseases which do not occur in New Zealand.

While addition of the declaration is not a mandatory New Zealand procedure at this stage, and the range of products possibly affected could be wider than blood byproducts, it is strongly suggested that all blood sera shipments carry the added declaration for the meantime, so there is less scope for unfavourable discriminatory action by Korean border inspectors.

Factors which may have played a role in recent border decisions in Korea include:

increased attention at borders following the US BSE case;
new sources of such materials being sought by Korean importers;
free use by Australian authorities of a similar (superfluous) statement, and a consequent (and unwarranted) expectation on the part of importers that New Zealand certification will be similar;
assertion by border inspectors the AgM123 has not been part of the acceptance by Korea of all New Zealand certification without the declaration.

It would be of interest to NZFSA to hear from exporters who have had difficulty recently clearing such shipments into Korea, or conversely from those who have encountered no such problems. Details of ports and border inspectors, if available, would be especially useful.

Disclaimer: This FYI is intended for use as a guideline only and should not be taken as definitive or exhaustive. NZFSA endeavours to keep this information current and accurate. However, it may be subject to change without notice. NZFSA will not accept liability for any loss resulting from reliance on this information.

For Your Information: F1-04 Export of Blood Byproducts to Korea

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