Paperwork and customs
Reading a health certificate.
A health certificate is issued by the Indonesian authority for a specific consignment to a specific country, attesting to specific things. It is a legal instrument rather than a commercial document, and an error on it usually cannot be fixed after the goods sail.
What the parts are.
Read them in this order and check each against the shipment rather than against the last certificate.
- Consignor and consignee
- Must match the actual parties and the other documents. A mismatch here stops the consignment at the border.
- The product description
- Species, form, treatment and quantity. It has to match the invoice, the packing list and what is actually in the container.
- The establishment
- The approved plant that produced it, with its approval number. For several markets the plant has to be on a list before the certificate means anything.
- The attestations
- The numbered statements the official is certifying. These are dictated by the destination and they are the substance of the document.
- Identification
- Container and seal numbers, lot codes, marks. This is what ties the certificate to physical goods.
- The signature and stamp
- By an authorised official, in the required colour and form. Certificates are frequently rejected on formalities alone.
Errors that cannot be fixed.
A wrong destination country. The attestations are country specific, so a certificate drawn for one market does not work for another.
A wrong establishment number, or an establishment not approved for the destination.
A date after shipment. The certificate attests to the condition of goods before they left, so it cannot be issued retrospectively.
A description that does not match the goods. Correcting it means a replacement certificate from the origin authority, which takes time the container does not have.
What to do before shipment.
Ask for a draft and check it yourself, line by line, against the invoice and packing list. Ten minutes here prevents a container sitting at a border post.
Confirm the establishment is approved for your specific market, on the list your own authority maintains.
Check that the attestations are the ones your destination currently requires, because the wording changes.
Make sure the container and seal numbers on the certificate are the actual ones, which means the certificate is finalised after loading.
Questions buyers ask.
Can a mistake be corrected after shipment?
Sometimes, with a replacement certificate from the issuing authority, and it takes time and the goods usually wait. Checking a draft before shipment is far cheaper than any correction.
Why does the establishment number matter?
Because several markets only accept products from plants they have approved and listed. A certificate naming a plant that is not on your market's list does not open the border.
Who checks it at the destination?
The border control authority, against the notification and the goods. They are checking a legal instrument for accuracy, which is why formalities like signature colour and stamp matter.
Read next.
How a health certificate actually happens
The document behind every seafood shipment. What must be true before it is issued, and why it cannot be arranged late.
How a phytosanitary certificate actually happens
The document following nearly every plant product. Who issues it, when, and why it cannot be arranged afterwards.
Export documents, by category
Four categories, four different sets of paperwork and almost no overlap. Built from the reference pages, so it cannot fall behind what is published.
Releasing your cargo
The container arrived and you cannot have it. What has to happen, in order, and where it stalls.
Export health certificate
The public health document issued by Indonesia's competent authority, travelling with the consignment, and the two things it does not cover.
EU approved establishment number
Animal products enter the EU only from a plant already on the published list. What the number is, and why it cannot be arranged on your timeline.
At the border control post
Documentary, identity and physical checks, in that order. What each looks at and how long.
Sourcing from Indonesia?
Tell us the product, the quantity and the destination. We come back with what it involves before anyone talks about money.