To fill out VS Form 16-4, download the current July 2022 version from the APHIS website, complete the exporter, consignee, port, product, identification, and conveyance fields exactly as the destination country’s requirements demand, draft the Additional Declarations section yourself using APHIS’s IRegs database, and submit the form to an APHIS endorsement office with the $101 user fee. The declarations section is where most exporters get tripped up, because the language changes for every destination country and you write it, not APHIS.
Check the Destination Country’s Requirements First
Before you write anything on the form, look up your destination country in APHIS’s International Regulations for Animal Product Exports (IRegs), available through the APHIS animal product export page. Select the country from the dropdown to see what that country requires for your product.1Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Animal Product Exports
IRegs is the starting point, not the final word. Import requirements can change without notice, and APHIS puts the burden on you to have your importer confirm current requirements with the destination country’s animal-health ministry before shipping. APHIS states plainly that it “cannot guarantee that importing countries won’t require additional or more specific information.”2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions
Also confirm you have the right form. Only the July 2022 version of VS Form 16-4 is accepted, and older versions will be returned.2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions Note that this form is for animal-origin products only. Live animal exports use VS Form 16-3, and animal products meant for human consumption fall under FSIS or FDA jurisdiction rather than APHIS Veterinary Services.1Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Animal Product Exports
Filling Out Each Field
The form has two pages, with a continuation sheet (VS Form 16-4A) available if you need more space. Work through the fields in order:
- Name and Address of Exporter. Your company’s full legal name and physical address. If the exporting company sits outside the United States, the certificate must still show that the consignment ships from the U.S.2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions
- Name and Address of Consignee. The full name, address, and country of the party receiving the shipment. This address must be outside the continental United States and U.S. territories.2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions
- Port. The point of embarkation or last U.S. port. You can write “Any US port” unless the IRegs page for your destination says otherwise.2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions
- Product. Four elements only: the type of product, quantity, unit of measure, and animal species of origin. The APHIS office may refuse to endorse a certificate that puts anything else in this field.2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions
- Identification. Information tying the certificate to the physical shipment: lot numbers, shipping container numbers, order numbers, or similar references. This field is not part of the certified declaration.
- Conveyance. The shipping vessel name, flight number, or a general term such as “ocean vessel.” Also not part of the certified declaration.2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions
- Date, Certification Number, and Endorsing Official. Leave blank. APHIS completes these after endorsement.2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions
Make sure everything you enter matches your commercial invoices and shipping manifests exactly. Discrepancies between the certificate and the commercial documents trigger rejections at APHIS review and at the destination port.
Drafting the Additional Declarations
This section is yours to write. You draft the declarations based on the IRegs requirements for your product and destination, plus anything else your importer confirms the foreign ministry demands.2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions APHIS recommends checking with the endorsement office on formatting and verification before you submit.
Unless the IRegs page for your destination says otherwise, the first statement in the Additional Declarations must be the standard U.S. disease-freedom attestation: that rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever, swine vesicular disease, African swine fever, and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia do not exist in the United States.2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions After that, add whatever the destination requires. Country-specific declarations often address processing methods such as heat-treatment temperatures or rendering standards, the health status of the source region, or the absence of specific pathogens in the product itself.
Using the Continuation Sheet
If the declarations run past the space on the main form, continue them on VS Form 16-4A. When you use a continuation sheet, the declarations on VS Form 16-4 must end with “See page 2,” and each continuation page must be numbered in “X of Y” format, for example “2 of 3.”2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 Export Certificate Instructions
Submitting the Form and Paying the Fee
Electronic submissions go through the Veterinary Services Process Streamlining system (VSPS). Access requires a login.gov account with identity verification and a VSPS profile with an assigned role.3Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Using the Veterinary Services Process Streamlining System Exporters, accredited veterinarians, and federal employees share the same system with different role permissions.4USDA APHIS. Veterinary Services Process Streamlining If electronic access isn’t set up, physical copies can be mailed to the appropriate endorsement office.
If IRegs doesn’t cover your exact product or destination, contact APHIS’s Veterinary Export Trade Services (VETS) team before your first submission. VETS is reachable through the APHIS website by selecting your commodity type.5United States Department of Agriculture. Working With an APHIS Endorsement Office
The user fee is $101 per certificate under 9 CFR 130.3(f), regardless of how many products the certificate lists.6Veterinary Services Import/Export User Fees | APHIS. Veterinary Services Import/Export User Fees Endorsement work on a Sunday, holiday, or outside normal business hours adds reimbursable overtime. Payment must reach the office before it will process the certificate.
What You Get Back and How Long It Lasts
Once APHIS confirms the form complies with U.S. federal guidelines and the destination country’s requirements, an official veterinarian signs the document and stamps it with a federal seal. The endorsed certificate is valid for 30 days after the date of signature, with a slight extension when the shipment travels by ocean vessel or rail.7Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. VS Form 16-4 – Export Certificate for Animal Products Time your shipment inside that window so you don’t have to request a fresh endorsement.
If APHIS returns the form for corrections, common reasons include declaration language that doesn’t match IRegs, extra information in the product description, or an incomplete consignee address. Fix the problem and resubmit. A shipment arriving at a foreign port without a properly endorsed VS Form 16-4 can be seized or refused entry, and the cost of stranded goods falls on the exporter.