EL SALVADOR

Capital: San Salvador
Population:  6,705,000
Currency: Salvadoran Colon
Official Language:  Spanish

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.

    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:

    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:

    Both a phytosanitary certificate (PC) and an import permit (IP) are 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 http://www.buyusa.gov/centralamerica/en/certificateorigin.html.

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. SUBSIDIES

None.

VII.  MARKETING REPRESENTATIVES FOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST TREE FRUIT INDUSTRY

VIII.  OTHER RESOURCE LINKS:

Governmental: 

IX.  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

105 South 18th Street, Suite 105
Yakima, Washington 98901, USA
Voice: (509) 453-3193, Fax: (509) 457-7615

E-mail general@nwhort.org