Temporary Sanitary Permits are authorizations requested to import and commercialize national and foreign products that do not yet have a Certificate of Registration for the commercialization of food and beverages, cosmetics, hygienic products, and nutritional supplements.
Requirements
- Application addressed to the Health Regulation Agency ARSA, detailing who the importer is, and who the distributors will be, as well as the name of the product and lot number.
- Copy of your invoice or proforma invoice detailing the product, lot number, and date of entry.
- Document of the competent authority of the country of origin that certifies that the product is for human consumption, it can be the Certificate of Free Sale, the certificate of good manufacturing practices, the Certificate of Sanitary Registration of the country of origin, or the Certificate of Export. In case you do not have any of these documents, you can make an Affidavit signed by the Legal Representative, duly authenticated, stating that your product is for human consumption or use.
- Sanitary license of the importer and distributors.
- Primary and secondary labels. And proof of payment.
Validity Period
The Temporary Sanitary Permit is valid for 6 months and can be renewed for 6 more months.
Processing Fees
The fee to be paid before the sanitary entity in Honduras depends on the variants to be applied for.
- Food and Beverages: Up to 10 commercial presentations or variants may be included in the same application for a temporary sanitary permit.
- Cosmetics and Toiletries: The following variants can be included in the same application for a temporary sanitary permit:
– 1 to 10 variants, 11 to 20 variants, 21 to 30 variants, 31 to 40 variants, 40 variants, and upwards.
- Nutritional Supplement: If a temporary sanitary permit for a nutritional supplement is entered, it must also mention its different presentations and pharmaceutical forms.
Renewal of Temporary Sanitary Permits
Applications for Temporary Sanitary Permits may be renewed for an additional six-month period, by submitting again the above requirements and attaching to the application an Authenticated Affidavit stating that the product has not undergone any date change.
If the PST is not renewed at the correct time and expires, it can no longer be renewed or entered as a new one, so the only option would be to enter or wait for the Permanent Sanitary Registration.
- When can a Temporary Sanitary Permit be denied? When the product is being renewed for the 3rd time.
- When the product already has a sanitary registration.
- When the Manufacturer is registered as an Entrepreneur.
- When the Distributor(s) and Importer(s) do not have a Sanitary License for the activity of the corresponding procedure.
- And in any other case when the regulatory entity so declares.
Online Application
This application can be submitted both physically and online, in both cases, the times are the same, same requirements, and the same process.
Benefits of PST
- This process is highly recommended if you need to market or import an emergency product or to have it in case the permanent registration is taking more time than usual.
- It is a fast process and its validity gives time to import and commercialize while the Permanent Registration is in process and ready.
- The requirements are very accessible for any importer or distributor.
- It has the same validity as a Permanent Registration, as long as it is in validity.
This is a very helpful process for importers and distributors of products that fall into this category and for citizens in general, since it allows the commercialization of products that are necessary for daily life and that do not yet have their Permanent Sanitary Registration, and it is also very accessible and fast response time.