Since the end of last year, measures have been implemented to make the process of exporting perishable products easier and, above all, to guarantee the conservation and care of these goods. Thus, thanks to the interinstitutional efforts between the National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration – SUNAT, the National Service of Agrarian Security – SENASA and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism – MINCETUR, it has been possible to approve an integral procedure of inspection and joint review.
The mentioned procedure is only enabled for those exporters whose Customs Declaration of Merchandise (DAM) has been selected by the Integrated System of Customs Management – (SIGAD) developed by SUNAT – that is to say, that the documentary revision and the physical examination is requested -, provided they are perishable goods of vegetable origin subject to cold supply chains. In this sense, since these products -in turn- require to be inspected by the Peruvian Health Authority, in order to continue with the export process, it is easier that the inspections carried out by SENASA and SUNAT be carried out in a single event, reducing by doing so, times and costs for the Peruvian exporters.
If the conditions for access to the joint inspection and review procedure are complied with, the exporter may request, through the Single Window for Foreign Trade (VUCE), that the joint inspection and review be carried out, determining for that purpose the place, date and tentative hour of diligence. Upon request, SENASA and SUNAT officials must confirm their availability to carry out inspections in the premises designated by the exporter or in a temporary warehouse.
In the case that the merchandise is in a temporary warehouse and the joint inspection is carried out, the officials of SUNAT and SENASA must verify that the reported space has the conditions to guarantee the conservation of the merchandise for the opening of the package or container, if not attend circumstances it may not continue the dispatch, unless the exporter requests the continuation under his responsibility.
In good account, the joint review procedure could be graphed as follows:
In this regard, it is necessary to take into consideration that the main objective of the joint review is to safeguard the conditions of conservation and sanitary protection required by perishable goods of plant origin, due to a breakdown of the cold supply chain to which they are subject. It would imply a reduction in the shelf life of these products, as well as the proliferation of pathogenic microorganisms in food.
Finally, for greater detail of the aforementioned procedure, you can have access to the VUCE User Manual – Inspection and Joint Review, by clicking here.
June 06, 2017
By: Jean Pierre Requena, Regulatory Affairs and Development Analyst
