What is subjected to veterinary inspection?

A reference list of products requiring veterinary inspection is laid down in Commission Decision 2007/275/EC. In addition to them, inspection is carried out on products to be used as animal feed, too.

Laws and bylaws

Veterinary inspection procedures at border entry-points are governed by Law No. 9308 “On Veterinary Services and Inspectorate”, by Veterinary Overal Inspection Manual and Guidelines on the procedures to be followed at cross border .

Where is veterinary inspection conducted

The competent bodies for veterinary inspection are Border Veterinary Inspection Points (BVIP), Regional Veterinary Departments and the Veterinary Department at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. 

Animal products may be imported or exported only through authorized border veterinary inspection points. Not all border check-points have Border Veterinary Inspection Points (BVIP). You can find the list of authorized border veterinary inspection points here.

Prior to import

Importers are responsible in front of veterinary authorities, for carrying out the required legal procedures .

At the border

Veterinary inspection procedures include the following:

1. Importers notify BVIP and fill in Part 1 of the Veterinary Import/In Transit Application (VITA), and submit an original veterinary certificate. The notification must occur before the arrival of goods, for consignments arriving by land, rail or air, and one working day in advance for any other consignments.
2. Consignments are required to be presented to BVIP without delay upon arrival in Albania.
3. BVIP staff may carry out a visual inspection of the consignments and of the manifest of goods or other electronic means, and make sure that the Official Veterinary has confirmed in writing that the key information related to the consignment is included in Part 1 of VITA.
4. After arrival and preliminary acceptance of VITA, veterinary inspectors carry out the following inspection procedures:

(a) Examination of Documents

The examination of documents includes: inspection of VITA and other accompanying veterinary documents (invoices, cargo bills); and verification of the authenticity of the original certificate.

Following the documentary examination, the attached table 1 on the results of documentary examination is prepared.

Based on the preliminary examination of documents, the Inspector decides on follow-up inspections, presenting his findings in the attached table 2.

(b) Verification of Identity

A verification of identity is performed in order to ensure that: the data in the accompanying documentation correspond to the characteristics of the consignment; the seal and number of sealed containers is intact; the data on the type of product and means of transport included in the certificate correspond to the actual goods and vehicle.
A verification of identity must be performed on 1% of the packaged units with a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 10 units being examined. The amount of 1 % is taken as a representative sample from the entire consignment. If any packages are opened, they should be resealed with a BVIP inspection label.
The identity verification results are described in the attached table 3.

(c) Physical Inspection

Physical inspection includes:
Organoleptic examination i.e. odor, color, feel and taste.
Compulsory simple physical tests: cutting if necessary; taking the temperature based on the conditions defined in the certificate;
Optional simple physical tests: Cooking, roasting, tasting, measurement of pH.
Other tests based on the latest technical standards.
The physical inspection results are described in the attached table 4.

(d) Laboratory Inspection

The purpose of laboratory inspection is to identify any: residues, pathogenic microorganisms, contaminants, alteration or other types of residue.
If any samples are required for laboratory tests a specified procedure is followed for taking the samples. The normal number of samples taken for laboratory tests is shown in the attached table 5.
The laboratory inspection results are described in the attached table 6.

5. At the end of the inspections, Veterinary Inspectors may either issue the Import/In Transit Permit, using the attached form for animal products or live animals, or reject import/in transit consignment, using the attached form

Documents

You can find information on Veterinary Inspection service fees here.