By: Némesis Escalante
This is the authorization given to a natural or legal person to manufacture, package and import a food or beverage for human consumption.
The regulatory body for these food and beverage registrations is the Health Regulation Agency (ARSA).
Each food or beverage registration has a holder ,the ownership of each product can only be one, naming one or more distributors. If another third party is interested in register a product that already has a sanitary registration, must be requested a Sanitary Registration, with which it may also import the products and distribute them, as long as it has the authorization of the holder of the registration.
The requirements for Sanitary Registration of New or Renewal Food and Beverage Products are as follows:
1.-Application (ARSA form)
2- Authenticated Affidavit (ARSA format)
3- Copy of Deed of Incorporation
4- Original Label
5- Complementary Label (When applicable)
6- Copy of the Sanitary License in force (If applicable)
7- Certificate of Free Sale
6- Payment Receipt
7- Power of Attorney (When applicable)
8- Copy of Previous Sanitary Registration Certificate (In case of renewal)
The following is a sample Supplementary Label, which is an indispensable requirement. This label must be included in all cases, even if the main label is in Spanish or in another language.
Here are some of the Modifications of Food and Beverage Registrations made at the Health Regulation Agency (ARSA):
The process for New Registration, Renewal or Modifications is as follows:
– When the product already has Sanitary Registration.
– When the complete or correct documentation is not submitted.
In addition, the registration can be canceled in case a Sanitary Alert is issued due to contamination or modifications made without prior authorization.
Relevant cases have arisen regarding the registration of food and beverages.
- Kellogg case, where the company Distribuidora de Productos Alimenticios DIAPA and Kellogg signed an exclusivity agreement since 1999, on this occasion it was demonstrated that other companies authorized by Kellogg were importing products of this brand Honduras, through third-party distributors, suppressing the brand of the packaging of the products and altering the distinctive name of these products to, apparently, avoid risks of detention of the articles since DIAPA has the exclusive distribution of such products.
- Other relevant cases have been the recall alerts of batches of products contaminated by salmonella, such as Ritz Cracker and Ritz bits cookies products this happened in 2018 where the manufacturer Mondelēz Global LLC announced the voluntary recall of such possibly contaminated products.