Certificate of Free Sale is a document to prove that products are legally sold in the market, without restriction, and approved by the regulatory authorities in the country of origin. Institut Kurz is an accredited private standard monitoring body authorized to issue a Certificate of Free Sale. Website: www.institut-kurz.com Email: info@institut kurz.com

1. INSTITUT KURZ
CERTIFICATE OF
FREE SALE
www.institut-kurz.com
Contact: info@institut-kurz.com

2. CERTIFICATE OF FREE SALE
Certificate of Free Sale (CFS) is a document to prove that products are
legally sold in the market, without restriction, and approved by the
regulatory authorities in the country of origin.
Alternative terms can be used for a CFS including:
• Free Sale Certificate
• Certificate of Free Trade
• Certificate of Export
• Export Certificate
• Certificate to a Foreign
Government

3. CERTIFICATE OF FREE SALE
Just as there are differences in the name of the certificate itself, its entire
ordering process also differs according to the product to be imported and
the country.
These differences can make it difficult for exporters to access the market in
sectors and countries where CFS schemes exist.

4. LEGAL MEANING
A CFS is an official document issued by a governmental or a government
authorized organization of the exporting country to the trader exporting the
goods.
It states that a product meets the domestic regulatory requirements of the
exporting country and can be freely sold in the domestic market of the
exporting country.

5. A CFC does not:
• give any technical or commercial guarantee as to the functionality of the
product in question.
• touch or preempt any patent.
It is not a:
• governmental “registration” of the product or accreditation or certification
of the producer.
• certification document relating to the product, by itself.
LEGAL MEANING

6. PRODUCTS THAT REQUIRE CFS
Many countries require a CFS as a condition of importation in sensitive
sectors to guarantee the protection, health and safety of consumers.
Products that require a CFS:
✓ Food products
✓ Cosmetics
✓ Personal hygiene products
✓ Fragrances
✓ Household detergents
✓ Medical devices
✓ Pharmaceuticals
✓ Veterinary medicine
✓ Fertilizers and pesticides

7. ISSUING ENTITIES
The different governments specify which agency or authority is competent
to issue a CFS: a governmental organization and/or a governmentally
authorized organization.
Some organizations:
• Health authorities
• Trade associations
• Customs authority
• Chamber of commerce
• Accredited private standard monitoring body (Institut Kurz Gmbh)

8. ISSUING ENTITIES
Different legal systems and government cultures
between the importing and the exporting country.
Doubt, on the part of the authorities of the importing
country, of which organization in the exporting
country issues the CFS.

9. WHICH ITEMS ARE REQUIRED?
Institutions that issue and governments that require a CFS as an import
condition establish documentation requirements.
Governments enact requirements for CFS through laws and other legal acts.
The required format and content may differ depending on the products to
be imported.

10. WHICH ITEMS ARE REQUIRED?
The application for the CFS must:
✓Be on the letterhead of the company requesting the certificate.
✓Contain the names of the products being certified.
✓Include the desired language.
✓Include the name, details and contact of the applicant
company/manufacturer.
✓Specify how the products should be listed on the certificate.
✓Details of the recipient country and, if necessary, a recipient.
Other information or documents may be necessary.

11. WHICH ITEMS ARE REQUIRED?
CFS for a recipe - The standard monitoring body must check the
ingredients list for:
✓feed: List of permitted additives
✓cosmetics: INCI-List
✓food: Novel Food and several other food related criteria
CFS for an entire food - Besides the ingredients list, it is required to do
chemical and microbiological check:
✓declared ingredients
✓absence of undesired contaminants product
✓label

12. WHICH ITEMS ARE REQUIRED?
The production of a CFS is a two steps approach with:
Step 1: Detailed analysis of the product (or recipe) resulting in an Analysis
Report.
Step 2: Short version about the results of the Analysis Report written as a
Certificate of Free Sale.

13. WHICH ITEMS ARE REQUIRED?
Generally established formal requirements for a CFS:
✓Name of the CFS issuing agency
✓Reference number and date of issuance
✓Name and type of the certified product
✓Name and address of the manufacturer
✓Statement that the product or good is manufactured and freely sold on the
market of the country of manufacture
✓Reference to the relevant proceeding Analysis Report
✓Full name, signature and title of the CFS-issuing person and seal of the
CFS issuer.

14. Example of a CFS

15. WHICH COUNTRIES?
Importing countries can require CFS and product registration as a
prerequisite for marketing approval and at the point of import.
Latin American countries are among the leaders in terms of CFS
requirements, particularly in the area of pharmaceuticals and medical
devices.
Countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia also regularly require a
CFS in specific product sectors.

16. WHICH COUNTRIES?
Countries that require a CFS justify the practice in terms of:
• cost
• health
• safety
• consumer protection
• moral reasons
However, there are also economic, industrial policies and development
logic behind the requirements.

17. VALIDITY
As CFS is a snap shot of the legal situation of the product in the country of
origin, it is valid until some of the legal requirements change.
No issuing body can give a guarantee as to the validity of the legislation,
but it is advisable to renew every 2-3 years in case of a continuous import
of a given product.
The validity of a CFS varies on the issuing (exporting) and the receiving
(importing) side and according to the product in question and national and
regional practices.

18. • Lima, Raquel. All about Certificate of Free Sales. Institut Kurz. 2020, ISBN-13: 979-8663056304.
• Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade. Certificates of free sale: compliance with the provisions of the WTO agreement on technical barriers
to trade. G/TBT/W/453. South Africa. 2017.
• Arthur E. Appleton and Claudio Dordi. Certificates of Free Sale: Who Is Being Protected from whom?. Journal of International Economic Law
14(4), 719–763. 2011.
• H. Weidlich, Düsseldorf. Certificates on the EU Food/Feed/Cosmetics Market. Imap-Delegation from Chile. 2019.
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on: 26/06/2020.
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de-venda-livre. Accessed on: 26/06/2020.
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export-certificates-food. Accessed on: 26/06/2020.
• New Mexico Department of Agriculture. Certificates of free sale (food safety). Available at: https://www.nmda.nmsu.edu/nmda-
homepage/divisions/aps/fsf/certificates-of-free-sale/ Accessed on: 26/06/2020.
REFERENCES