Animal health certificates and health certificates

An animal health certificate and health certificate will ensure the authorities in the country of destination that your product fulfils the requirements and does not spread animal diseases. The control authority confirms by their signature the information you have filled in on the certificate for the lot. An animal health certificate can only be granted for businesses in the export register of the Finnish Food Authority.

Agreed animal health certificates and health certificates are found in Kontti and TRACES or in eCert

The EU and Finland have agreed on model export certificates for the export of animals and products with some countries of destination. If such a model certificate is available for your product, that is the one you have to use.

You can find these model certificates in our Kontti service (in Finnish) on the page for the country concerned or in the TRACES system of the European Commission or in the eCert-System of the Finnish Food Authority. You will find certain certificates agreed between Finland and a country of destination in eCert and certificates agreed between European Commission and a country of destination in TRACES. If certificates are not agreed in the electric systems, there might be a model certificate for your products in our Kontti service. Please note that, in addition to a certificate, the country of destination may require for example an approval for your establishment before you can start exporting. The requirements that are known to us are found in Kontti.

  • If the certificate has been negotiated by Finland, the control authority issuing the certificate will order a template printed on security paper from the Food Authority or exporter can fill the appropriate certificate in eCert.
  • If the certificate is in TRACES, you being the exporter will fill in your part of the certificate before the control authority fills in their part.

What to do if there is no agreed model certificate

If there is no official certificate or it is not being negotiated at the moment, you as the exporter can, for example in conjunction with your importer, have your own proposal for a certificate approved by the authorities in the country of destination. In these cases, we recommend that you use the general animal health certificates and health certificates drawn up by the Food Authority, if there is such a certificate available for your product. You cannot use the Finnish lion seal on certificates that you have formulated yourself.

If the model certificate is not accepted, a certificate tailored for that particular country of destination has to be drawn up for the export. You can order the drafting of the model certificate from the export team of the Food Authority. The job is invoiced according to the price list of the Food Authority, unless it is a question of a certificate for a prioritised market access project or a lighthouse project. All our model certificates can be ordered from the Food Authority.

General health certificates

Before the export you should always check with the authorities in the country of destination that the general health certificate is acceptable. Once you have completed the certificate, you can print it on plain A4 paper. The control authority supervising your business will sign the information on the certificate.

When filling in the general health certificate, take into account:

  • fill in all fields of the certificate (if the field does not apply to your product, fill in a line)
  • in the field "Competent local authority issuing this certificate", fill in the name of the control unit supervising your activities in English

Make sure that either you or the authority issuing the certificate will number it using an individual reference number. The number is also to be recorded on the reverse of the page. The certificate number has to be XX/YYYY/OOOO, where

  • XX = name of the control authority/control area, its abbreviation or number or the approval number of the establishment (without the letters EC/FIN)
  • YYYY = the year the certificate was issued
  • OOOO = the sequential number of the control unit or of the establishment so, that two certificates will never have the same number.

Send a report by e-mail on the use of the general health certificate to vienti@ruokavirasto.fi every month. Give us the numbering of the certificates you have received, the number of the general certificate (e.g. 004A), export product, country of destination, date of signature and signatory.

Bovine hides and skins (country of slaughter and manufacture: Finland)

Cervid hides and skins (country of production: Finland)

Eggs and egg products

Fish and fishery products (country of production: Finland)

Game trophies and antlers

Honey and other apiculture products intended for human consumption (country of production and manufacture: Finland)

Insects and insect products for food uses (country of production: Finland)

Meat and meat products (country of slaughter and production: Finland)

Milk and milk products (milk originates from Finland or the EU, country of production: Finland)

Milk and milk products (registered food business, milk originates from Finland or the EU, country of production: Finland)

Porcine casings for food uses

Processed food products (country of production: Finland)

Processed protein of animal origin for feed

Page last updated 1/5/2024