Advice for citrus exporters to Russia

If you’re exporting citrus to Russia, there’s an important new documentary requirement.

In Form A Certificate of Origin, section 11 calls for the “issuing authority”. In South Africa it is Sars. It's been a practice that in this graph the Sars stamp is printed together with date and name of city, according to information published on the Citrus Growers Association website. “Now the Russian Customs office demands that the full name of the issuing authority must be typed, ie, South African Revenue Service. No full name, no customs preference,” says the CGA.

“The requirement is enacted with immediate effect which means that consignments already on water have no chance for correction of Form A.”

This information (for all countries) was passed on by Russian Customs offices to customs brokers who informed their import clients. These importers are in the process of passing the information on to their SA counterparts.