HONDURAS

Capital:  Tegucigalpa
Population:  7,834,000
Currency:  Lempira
Official Language(s):  Spanish 

I. CHEMICAL MAXIMUM RESIDUE LEVELS (MRLs)

II. CHEMICALS AND ADDITIVE INFORMATION

    A. Chemical residue standards:

Honduras defers to maximum residue levels established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission.  If Codex does not have an MRL, Honduras will defer to U.S. tolerances.

B. Monitoring chemical residues:

    C. Restrictions on use of waxes:

None

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:

The carton must be labeled with:

  1. Product name
  2. Packer's name
  3. Country of origin
  4. Lot number
  5. Weight

B. Licenses and quotas:

None.

C. Currency Issues:

None.

D. Pest and plant disease restrictions:

A Phytosanitary Certificate and Import Permit are required.

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.  Honduras does not produce apples, pears or cherries.

VII.  OTHER RESOURCE LINKS:

Governmental: 

VIII.  ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

The Dominican Republic-Central American-United States Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act was signed by President Bush on August 2, 2005.  The FTA entered into force in Honduras on April 1, 2006.

Special thanks to
FAS Field Office - Honduras

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

E-mail general@nwhort.org