What is SOIVRE?

Do you aspire to land in the Spanish market? Do you want to make a profit on your products with less stress? Then you need to know about SOIVRE. It is SOIVRE’s responsibility to ensure that products are safe and that they comply with Spanish and European regulations.

A Brief History of SOIVRE

SOIVRE means “Servicio Oficial de Inspección, Vigilancia y Regulación de las Exportaciones”. In English, it is translated as the “Official Service of Inspection, Surveillance and Regulation of Foreign Trade”.

SOIVRE was established in 1934 to ensure that the Spanish supply of agro-food products met the international market’s needs. Its functions were extended after thirty years, such that over the decades, it became what it is today.

It is an integrative service that goes beyond mere inspections within the Secretariat of State for Trade. It also offers assistance to Spanish firms aspiring to leave the country.

Functions of SOIVRE

The main functions of SOIVRE include providing strategic guidance to businesses on global markets and seeking to settle economic disputes. Also, SOIVRE provides support by cooperating with multinational organizations or foreign administrations.

Finally, they protect the environment from safeguarding competition. Their service is known for its assurance as a supervisory body for Spanish exports, outside its evolutionary and multidisciplinary nature.

SOIVRE Certification: What Are the Details?

Alicia Sánchez, Deputy Director-General of Foreign Exchange Supervision, Registration and Technical Assistance at the Secretariat of State for Trade, guarantees that the SOIVRE certifications are internationally recognized.

“This acceptance has been established in certain situations by the creation of bilateral cooperation arrangements with certain countries. By means of which third-party market inspection services accept the monitoring carried out by SOIVRE at origin over certain goods.”

SOIVRE issues four forms of documents, and they are as follows:

1. Certificates in conformity with the safety rules related to importing manufactured goods of an industrial type, such as textiles, clothing, or toys
2. Certificates to guarantee that goods comply with all relevant international laws on the conservation of protected species (in compliance with the CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)
3. Certificates of commercial quality control-focused, ultimately, on the export of agro-food products
4. Certificates of a voluntary nature, either for the personal and specific benefit of a corporation or as a result of arrangements concluded with third countries, promote trade in such goods.

Benefits of SOIVRE Certifications

SOIVRE’s work provides credibility to distributors of Spanish goods. And this form of credibility or confidence in certain situations ends up exempting some regions from control.

The companies that profit from it highly respect this trust. The olive oil manufacturer Migasa, claims that SOIVRE is a pioneer in what he terms “pleasant government.” The presence of an export control agency may seem quite obsolete because it may give the appearance abroad that Spanish food companies are not trustworthy.

It is quite the reverse because the reputation of SOIVRE abroad also makes it impractical for an autonomous controller to participate, with the added costs that this will mean for companies.

The accurate analysis of Spanish products for customs in markets such as Saudi Arabia, Brazil, or the United States is the work of SOIVRE. Such confidence is key to establishing itself in markets that are unaware of the Spanish supply or, in which it does not, in general terms, have a leadership role.

SOIVRE has other features and has been an essential tool for technical export guidance, beyond the value of the controls and the confidence they grant. It is precisely one of the things that corporations appreciate the most.