Importing Olive Oil from Spain to the US

Before proceeding with the management and logistics of international shipping of olive oil from Spain either by full container or LCL, or with air transport to the United States the following things must be considered:

The exporting company must be registered with the FDA and have a registration number TO GO ON ALL INVOICES that are issued (his collection is free).

An agent “representative” must be present in the United States on arrival of the olive oil, as required by the Bioterrorism Act. This “agent” is the contact between the Spanish company and the FDA or the U.S. Government.

Must check that included in the olive oil invoices are the following:

FDA Company registration No: XXXXXXXXXXX
Agent in the U.S.: XXXXXXXXXXX
We, XXXXXXXXX, hereby certify That the product contained Within this shipment is not subject to any applicable rules, bans, or standard Regulations under the consumer Product Safety Act or any other act enforced by the CPSC
For and Behalf of (name of company), Mr. XXXXXXXXXX
THIS PRODUCT IS CARB EXEMPT FROM REGULATION 93120.2 (a)
“We declare that shipping and packing are as per applicant’s purchase order”
Tagged as regulation of oleic products in USA (Product Nutrition Facts on the label,etc.) See FDA and RegistraCorp.

Before creating the order and loading the merchandise onto a carrier the INCOTERM code to be used needs to be agreed between the seller and the buyer. To understand what responsibilities need to be managed during the international transportation process we must see if it is sold with EXW, CFR or FOB conditions.

when exporting oil to the United States, before the goods are loaded into the shipping container it is recommended to apply for quality control of the products, this will come in the form of relevant quality certification, both independent (e.g. SGS) and official (e.g., the phytosanitary certificate issued in Spain by the health departments of the regional governments). Virtually all certifiers and inspectors require the information of the goods and the analytics of their lots, and recipient data.

It should also be kept in mind when importing olive oil that under Spanish customs it is mandatory that all oil exports are extra virgin oil, pure olive oil, refined and / or pomace oil, and is necessary to have passed the SOIVRE (Official Service Inspection, Supervision and Regulation of Exports). This is the responsibility of the exporter but should be kept in mind as it can take time to process.

American oil importers can also request that the oil pass a FITOSANITARIO analysis (report certifying that the Spanish state approves and certifies that the product exported under the standards set).

If international transport to the U.S is done via maritime transit, choosing the fastest service, it can take from 7 to 15 days to arrive in New York. If arriving to San Francisco the transit time can take up to 40 days with a slower international shipping service. The main ports in the U.S. are Norfolk, New York, Charleston, Miami, Port Everglades, Houston, Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco. When the goods are shipped, the freight forwarder will give a PRIOR NOTICE, a warning of when and where the container is arriving (required by the Bioterrorism Act).

It also prepares the ISF (Importer Security Filling).

In terms of fees, American imports usually take the CFR or CIF price including CUC or THC at destination.