Importing Shrimp Post-Larvae, Fish Fingerlings and Eggs: Health Certificates, Listed Diseases and Permits

Who decides what a live-seed import needs

Cross-border movements of live aquatic animals are controlled by the importing country. Its competent authority — usually the veterinary or aquatic animal health service — decides whether a species and life stage may enter, from which countries, zones or establishments, what testing and certification are required, and whether the animals must spend time in quarantine after arrival. The exporting country's competent authority then certifies that the consignment meets those conditions.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) publishes the Aquatic Animal Health Code. It sets international standards that members use when they write import conditions, including the list of notifiable aquatic animal diseases (Chapter 1.3) and model health certificates for trade in live aquatic animals (Chapter 5.11). The Code is a framework, not a permit: two importing countries can set different conditions for the same species.

Requirements can also differ by life stage. Broodstock, post-larvae and eyed eggs of the same species may be treated differently, and the disease status of the source zone or compartment matters. Treat a supplier's statement that "no permit is needed" as a question to put to the importing authority, not as an answer.

WOAH-listed diseases buyers most often meet

The list below is taken from Chapter 1.3 of the Aquatic Code as updated in 2024. For crustaceans the list is complete. For fish it shows examples relevant to common farmed species; the full fish list is longer. Import conditions often refer to these diseases, but they may add others or leave some out.

SPF, SPR and "high-health": what each claim should prove

Specific pathogen free (SPF) describes the health status of a stock with respect to a defined list of pathogens, maintained under a surveillance and biosecurity programme. It does not mean the animals are free of every pathogen, and it does not mean they are resistant. Specific pathogen resistant (SPR) describes resistance or tolerance to a specified pathogen; a stock can carry both labels. This distinction is set out in the review "Facts, truths and myths about SPF shrimp in aquaculture" (Alday-Sanz et al., Reviews in Aquaculture, 2018).

Because SPF describes a stock under a programme, the label does not automatically carry over when animals leave that programme — for example, post-larvae produced in a different hatchery from SPF broodstock. Ask which programme covered the exact batch you are buying, and what happened between the broodstock facility and the shipping tank.

"High-health" and similar marketing terms have no single defined meaning. Treat them as an invitation to ask the same questions you would ask for SPF.

• The written list of pathogens the stock is claimed to be free of.
• The surveillance programme behind the claim: who runs it, how often stock is tested, and how long the history goes back.
• Recent test results for the batch offered, with laboratory name, method, sampling date and number of animals sampled.
• Whether the official health certificate covers the same pathogens. Often it covers fewer, and the difference has to be covered contractually.

Testing evidence: what a credible result looks like

The WOAH Manual of Diagnostic Tests for Aquatic Animals describes the recommended diagnostic methods, including PCR-based methods for many listed diseases; the Manual was last amended at the May 2025 General Session. A test report gives evidence about the animals sampled, at the time they were sampled. A negative result on a small sample is not proof that the whole population is free of the pathogen. Sample size, timing and who took the samples all affect how much the result tells you.

• Laboratory identity, and whether it is accredited for the specific test (for example to ISO/IEC 17025) or officially designated by the competent authority.
• The method used and the reference it follows.
• Sampling date compared with the shipping date, and the tank or batch IDs that link the samples to the consignment.
• Who collected the samples: an official inspector, an independent party or the supplier.
• Number of animals sampled and how they were pooled.

Documents to line up before shipment

Most failed live-seed imports come down to paperwork that did not match the import conditions, or that arrived after the animals did. Build the document set from the import conditions backwards and agree each item with the supplier before the order is confirmed.

Contract terms that protect the buyer

Live seed is perishable and is only partly replaceable within a production cycle, so the contract should settle what happens if a document, a test or the shipment fails. The terms below are common points to negotiate. They are not a model contract: have your lawyer adapt them to the governing law and the supplier's terms.

• The order is conditional on the import permit being issued and on the health certificate being issued in the agreed wording, attached as an annex.
• Pre-shipment sampling and testing by a named laboratory, with the buyer's right to nominate or witness sampling.
• How quantity is counted at packing and how it is verified on arrival, including how dead animals are treated.
• Mortality on arrival: how it is defined, the evidence required (counts, photos, temperature and oxygen records), the claim deadline, and whether the remedy is replacement or refund.
• Who pays for quarantine, re-testing, and the destruction or return of a consignment that fails import checks.
• Packing specifications (density, water, oxygen, temperature) agreed in writing, plus who decides when a flight disruption should cancel the shipment.
• Risk and title are dealt with explicitly. Incoterms allocate delivery costs and risk, but not ownership or payment terms.

Arrival, quarantine and traceability

Plan the receiving side before dispatch. If the import conditions require quarantine, the facility must be ready, approved where approval is required, and separated from the main farm's water, staff and equipment. Agree the acclimation procedure with the supplier, record water quality, counts and mortalities for each batch, and keep the certificate, test reports and arrival records together under one batch identifier. Those records support any claim against the supplier and any later disease investigation.