I. CHEMICAL MAXIMUM RESIDUE LEVELS (MRLs)

Please click on the above link for a list of Codex chemical MRLs.

II. CHEMICALS AND ADDITIVE INFORMATION

A. Chemical residue standards:

El Salvador defers to maximum residue levels established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.  If there is no Codex MRL, El Salvador will accept the higher value of European Union or United States MRLs.

B. Monitoring chemical residues:

C. Restrictions on use of waxes:

III. ORGANIC FRUIT REGULATIONS

No information

IV. TARIFFS

As agreed under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement, the tariff rate for U.S. apples, pears and cherries is zero.

In order for importers to obtain this preferential duty-free rate, a Certificate of Origin must be provided.  See section Chapter V, Section F for more information.

V. NON-TARIFF BARRIERS

A. Labeling requirements:

Cartons should be labeled with the following:

1.  Name of product.
2.  Net content.
3.  Lot identification.
4.  Packing date.
5.  Packer’s name and address.
6.  Country of origin.

B. Licenses and quotas:

None

C. Currency Issues:

None

D. Pest and plant disease restrictions:

A phytosanitary certificate (PC) is required in order to import apples, pears, and cherries into El Salvador.  For apples and pears, El Salvador requires an additional declaration (AD) stating that, “The shipment has been inspected and found free of pink hibiscus mealybug (Maconellicoccus hirsutus (Green)) and originated in an area free from the insect.”

E. Solid Wood Packing Material (SWPM) Regulations:

Please refer to the SWPM section of the NHC’s Technical Bulletins and Industry Advice.

F. Certificate of Origin

A Certificate of Origin must accompany any shipment in order to obtain the preferential duty-free tariff provided under the DR- CAFTA.

There is no official Certification of Origin form. However, a “suggested form” for imports under DR-CAFTA, including instructions on how to fill in the form may be found at Certificate of Origin.

Special attention should be paid to entering the correct “preferential tariff treatment criteria” under box 7 of the suggested form.  For fruit exported from the Pacific Northwest, the correct entry is the capital letter A; which designates the import as “it is a good wholly obtained or produced entirely in the territory of one or more of the Parties.”

VI. MARKETING REPRESENTATIVES FOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST TREE FRUIT INDUSTRY:

VII. OTHER RESOURCE LINKS:

Governmental:

• The World Factbook (Central Intelligence Agency)
• El Salvador (U.S. Commercial Service/Department of Commerce)
• U.S. Embassy
  • Foreign Agricultural Service (Guatemala)

VIII. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

The Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act was signed by President Bush on August 2, 2005.  This FTA entered into force in El Salvador on March 1, 2006.

Special thanks to
FAS Field Office – El Salvador