FAIRS (Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards) reports are one of the most commonly viewed reports on the FAS GAIN FAS/Post Reporting system. They provide first-time exporters, new-to-market exporters, trade analysts and organizations that provide assistance to promote and expand U.S. trade overseas with answers to the most frequently asked technical questions and general information.  They are not meant to replace broader market research and analysis that a company must carry out to ensure that specific products meet all specific import requirements and technical regulations for a given country.

FAIRS Report Types

There are three types of FAIRS Reports:
1) the FAIRS Country Report;
2) the FAIRS Subject Report; and
3) the FAIRS Export Certificate Report.

All Posts with an FAS staff presence submit a FAIRS Country Report and major export market posts provide a FAIRS Export Certificate Report annually for their country of responsibility. Each FAS/Posts may submit a FAIRS Report for other covered countries based on market demand.

A. FAIRS Country Report

The FAIRS Country Report is an annual market access report that aims to consolidate general information on the technical requirements and regulations for food and agricultural imports imposed by a country. It covers all products, pertinent importing instructions, and contacts for a given country. The FAIRS Country Reports do not catalogue all additives and pesticide regulations for all products OR list all of the food laws of a country. Instead, these reports provide a general summary on key regulations and laws and explain how these issues apply to impact imported foodstuffs. For more detailed information or analysis the report should refer or link the reader to a FAIRS Subject Report and/or FAIRS Export Certificate Report, as appropriate.

The FAIRS Subject Reports can be used as an “update” to the FAIRS Country Report. Since the FAIRS Subject Reports are written on an ad hoc basis, they contain pertinent up-to-date information that should be incorporated into the FAIRS Country Report. Therefore, Posts review all subject Reports during the annual review and make changes to the appropriate sections of the FAIRS Country Report, as needed.

Regional FAIRS Country Reports

The regional FAIRS Country Report is a type of FAIRS Country Report. Where a group of sovereign nations have agreed to integrate their economies and harmonize their food safety and agricultural polices (e.g., the European Union), FAS Posts may develop a regional FAIRS Country Report. In this case, each FAIRS Country Report (for the individual countries within the region) focus on specific information in the report that differs from the regional FAIRS Country Report and refer to the Regional FAIRS Country Report for information that pertains to the harmonized policies/ regulations within the region. References to the Regional FAIRS Country Report is also made in the other FAIRS Reports (i.e., FAIRS Subject Report and FAIRS Export Certificate Report), as appropriate.

B. FAIRS Subject Report

The FAIRS Subject Report is a market access report used to support the FAIRS Country Report as warranted by elaborating on specific or detailed information. It covers import requirements related to a specific class of products (i.e. biotechnology, organic, Halal, food additives, nutrition labeling, etc.) or technical requirements, procedures, or policies related to a given commodity or product group (i.e. nutrition content labeling, contaminants, pesticides, food additive lists, etc.). The FAIRS Subject Report should refer the reader to other FAIRS Reports (i.e., the FAIRS Country Report and FAIRS Export Certificate Report) as needed.

C. FAIRS Export Certificate Report

An estimated four million food export certificates are issued yearly by U.S. Federal agencies, State authorities, and the processed food industry. Of the 800,000 issued by State and Federal agencies, the US Department of Agriculture issues 88 percent, through efforts by Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), Animal and Plant Health Inspection (APHIS), Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), according to the Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO). The FAIRS Export Certificate Report is a market access report that covers certification for all food and agricultural products for a given country. Export Certificate Reports focus on providing specific information on what export certificates foreign governments require. The FAIRS Export Certificate Report complements the FAIRS Country Report and should refer the reader to the FAIRS Country Report, as needed.

t back to PPTRD