Understanding the fumigation requirement of imported goods

Fumigation is a term that is commonly used in the field of exporting agricultural products. So what is fumigation? Why must certain goods be fumigated before exporting? Let’s find out more details with Viet Linh in the article below.

What is the concept of fumigation?

It is commonly known in English as Fumigation, is a method of killing pests, termites or other organisms harmful to plants. People will basically use chemical sprays to spray ship compartments, wooden shelves or containers to fumigate.

To receive documents for this category, businesses need to pay a fumigation fee so that a third party – the party performing the fumigation process for the business – can apply reasonably for mandatory documents. 

Why must import and export goods be fumigated?

Fumigation is considered a measure to kill pests, termites or other organisms harmful to plants. This is an important step to protect goods and avoid risks of goods being damaged during transportation. There are also many other reasons to take this step such as:

• When transporting goods by sea, it will take a lot of time, along with the conditions of the goods that are difficult to ensure humidity and temperature, which are suitable conditions for mold to grow. Therefore, fumigation will be the solution to overcome the above problems.
• Agricultural products are often susceptible to diseases themselves. Therefore, fumigation will be a necessary condition to preserve agricultural products when exported
• Some countries such as European countries, America, Australia, Japan… will often be very strict with regulations on fumigation. That is to ensure security and food safety. When exporting goods that do not meet the fumigation requirements of these countries, they may be returned, or even fined and banned from import. Therefore, to avoid such unfortunate cases, it is a good idea to fumigate your shipment when exporting.

Which items need fumigation?

So which items need to be fumigated before exporting is a question that many people are interested in. Items that are susceptible to mold or pathogens are not recommended to be stored in high humidity conditions. Those items are:

• Agricultural products originating from plants that have been processed into dry form: coffee, rice, tea, pepper, cashew nuts, beans…
• Types of products derived from wood such as bamboo and rattan products, handicrafts, wood without surface treatment…
• Besides, there are packaging products made from wood such as wooden pallets, wooden bales… These types of packaging are often used to pack ceramic goods, fragile goods…

In general, fumigation of goods is not only done with the goods but also with their packaging. However, packaging fumigation is usually guaranteed by the packaging supplier, so when you export using these types of packaging, there will be no need to perform fumigation.

Businesses need to contact the importing country to understand the appropriate fumigation methods for goods imported into that country.

How is fumigation performed?

The exporting or importing party will not be able to perform the fumigation step. Instead, there will be a third party providing this service. Fumigation will be performed before shipping goods into containers. Then the third party will send the fumigation certificate back to the business. To receive this document, several papers will be required:

• Commercial invoice.
• Packing list.
• Bill of lading.

The fumigation certificate after fumigation of goods will have the following specific content:

• Description of goods (description of goods)
• B.L No (bill of lading number)
• Weight
• Quantity (quantity)
• Means of conveyance
• Has been fumigated with (disinfected with medicine)
• Dosage (dose)
• Duration of exposure (time the medicine takes to absorb)
• Place of fumigation
• Date fumigated (date of sterilization)
• Consignee.
• Number of containers/seals.

Through this article, Viet Linh has answered the question of what fumigation is and why it is necessary. Hopefully this article has helped readers better understand the process of exporting goods. Customers need additional support in terms of documents and quality goods for official import. Please contact Viet Linh immediately for support.

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