Sanitary and Phytosanitary & Veterinary regulation

What is subjected to veterinary inspection?

Pursuant to foreign trade regulations of the Republic of Serbia, the goods exported, imported, transiting or undergoing one of the customs procedures are subject to meeting veterinary-sanitary requirements, in accordance with the regulations. The requirements for carrying out inspection may not result in additional restrictions on export, import or transit.

Laws and bylaws

The Law on Veterinary Matters and Law on Food Safety, as well as relevant implementing regulations, govern the manner of performing veterinary-sanitary control of goods imported, exported or transiting.

What is subjected to veterinary inspection

Animals, products of animal origin, food of animal origin, animal by-products, animal feed, veterinary medicines and medical devices and accompanying articles are subject to veterinary-sanitary inspection at border crossings. 

Types of consignments subject to veterinary-sanitary inspection and the manner of inspecting such consignments at the border are regulated by the Rulebook on Types of Consignments Subject to Veterinary-Sanitary Control and Manner of Performing Veterinary-Sanitary Inspection of Consignments at Border Crossings. 

Where is veterinary inspection conducted

Import and transit of consignments subject to veterinary-sanitary inspection at the border may be conducted via border crossings where organized veterinary-sanitary inspection is in place (for road traffic: Vatin, Gradina, Horgoš, Batrovci, Sremska Rača, Mali Zvornik (Novi most), Preševo i Gostun).

Prior to import

Import and transit of consignments of animals, products of animal origin, food of animal origin, animal feed, animal by-products and accompanying articles is conducted upon obtaining a decision on determining veterinary-sanitary requirements for import or transit of consignments, which is issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, in accordance with the Law on Veterinary Matters. Prior to import/transit of such goods, the importer must submit an application to the Veterinary Administration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management for issuing the Decision on veterinary-sanitary requirements for import/transit. The decision for import or transit is issued if the import of consignment is not prohibited due to the animal health situation in the exporting economy or economy of transit, and if there is no risk for animal and human health.

At the border

The person responsible for the consignment must notify the arrival of such consignment, declare it for inspection, pay fees for the veterinary-sanitary inspection and undertake other measures as instructed by the border veterinary inspector. Border crossing control involves documentary checks, consignment identification and physical inspection of the consignment. The customs authority may not clear the consignment before the border veterinary inspector finds that there are no veterinary-sanitary obstacles for import or transit of the consignment and marks the international veterinary certificate in the appropriate manner.

Pursuant to the Law on Food Safety, inspection of safety of food of animal origin and composite food on imports, exports or transit is carried out by the veterinary inspection within the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management. Border veterinary inspection controls composite food jointly with the phytosanitary and agricultural inspections. 

Consignments of animals, products of animal origin and animal feed that are imported or transiting:

- must be free of notifiable diseases and marked in the prescribed manner; 

- must have an original international veterinary certificate issued and signed by the relevant veterinary inspector or authorised veterinarian of the exporting economy or of the economy of origin;

- must be marked and accompanied by relevant identification document in case of live animals;

- must have a decision on determining veterinary-sanitary requirements for import or transit;

- depending on the nature of disease and potential risk, may not be coming from the farm, area or exporting economy, nor transit through area or economy, where a notifiable disease is present.

Consignments of food of animal origin that are imported or transiting must: 

- be safe for human health; 

- have an original international veterinary certificate issued and signed by the relevant veterinary inspector or authorized veterinarian of the exporting economy or of the economy of origin;

- have a decision on determining veterinary-sanitary requirements for import or transit;

- be marked in such a manner that origin and facility where the product and food were produced may be identified. 

Consignments of animals, products of animal origin, food of animal origin, animal feed and accompanying articles that are exported must:

- have an original international veterinary certificate issued by the relevant veterinary inspector (issued at loading in the place of origin of the consignment), confirming that the consignment is free of any symptoms of a disease, i.e. that it is safe for human consumption;

- have documents or be marked in such a manner that the facility they come from may be identified;

- have an appropriate identification document, in case of live animals.

Documents

Law on Veterinary Matters 

Rulebook on Types of Consignments Subject to Veterinary-Sanitary Control and Manner of Performing Veterinary-Sanitary Inspection of Consignments at Border Crossings 

Law on Food Safety 

Contact

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia:

Nemanjina 22-26, 11000 Beograd, Serbia

Phone: +381 11 2607 960, +381 11 3612 197, fax: +381 11 2607 961

Website: http://www.mpt.gov.rs/

Veterinary Administration:

SIV  III, Omladinskih brigada 1, 11070 Novi Beograd, Serbia

Phone: +381 11 3117 100

Department for Inspection Supervision and Control:

Phone: +381 11 2605 630

Department of Veterinary Sanitary Control at border crossing:

Phone: +381 11 2602 774