General Standards
Venezuela’s primary standardization agencies are SENCAMER (Servicio Autónomo Nacional de Normalización) and Fondonorma (Fondo para la Normalización y Certificación de la Calidad).
Quality control in Venezuela is administered by the Ministry of Commerce. The Ministry supervises and controls the rules of the Venezuelan Commission of Industrial Standards (COVENIN) through SENCAMER. SENCAMER is in charge of the accreditation, inspection and testing of laboratories. The agency also controls Venezuela’s metrology laboratory.
Products and quality systems are certified by Fondonorma, Bureau Veritas, the American Quality Standards Registrar and the Integral Technology Security Foundation. Fondonorma belongs to the ISO and allocates ISO certificates to local companies. The agency develops new standards when it is needed. Fondonorma's main objective is to assure the quality of locally made and imported products.
Conformity Assessment
Fondonorma issues conformity assessments for quality to existing standards from ISO and SENCAMER. Fondonorma also emits conformity assessments for local products intended for export, to verify their compliance with foreign standards or the IQNet 9004. The agency also issues conformity-testing certificates.
SENCAMER also issues conformity statements, often after testing in its own metrology laboratory or in other private and government testing laboratories.
Product Certification
Most products are not required to be certified in Venezuela. Products such as medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, are subject to a certification and/or registration process. Sellers and manufacturers of these products might be required to submit samples for laboratory testing and certification of their safety. International Organization for Standardization (ISO), NORVEN, or IQNet certification can help in gaining certification of compliance.
Labeling and Marking
Labeling and marking of products in Venezuela are regulated through resolutions issued by the responsible ministry and not by the standardization body. Labeling requirements vary according to the product category. The basic labeling rules include instructions in Spanish and measurements expressed in metric units.
The labeling rules for products that require registration and authorization for sale to the public include:
- a list of contents
- the name of the manufacturer, importer, or distributor
- the name of a sponsoring and responsible pharmacist (for pharmaceuticals)
- a list of all ingredients and contents of the package in metric unit
- any warnings or other data required as part of the product’s registration requirements(ex. the registration number of MINSALUD or the Ministry of Commerce in the case of animal feed or veterinary medicines).
The Ministry of Health is responsible for processed food labeling. Labeling is mandatory for both locally produced and imported food products. Approved labels must be affixed, stamped, sealed or printed with permanent ink on the product before export. Stickers are no allowed for imported products.
Most of the imported agricultural products require a certificate of origin, issued by the exporting country authorities. The original label must comply with Venezuelan labeling requirements, which must also identify the importer.
Labeling of footwear and textiles must be registered with the National Autonomous Service for Standardization, Quality, Metrology and Technical Regulations (SENCAMER) and meet the following criteria (in Spanish, in a font not smaller than two millimeters in height):
- name of manufacturer
- country of origin
- legal name of importer
- taxpayer number of the Venezuelan importer
- brand name
- size of the garment
- care instructions (in international symbols)
- garment fiber composition, must be spelled out using the generic name of the fibers and percentages of content.
Accreditation
Testing laboratories for official product testing must be accredited by FONDONORMA or SENCAMER.
Contacts
Ministry of People’s Power for Commerce
Minister: Dante Rivas (As of June 2014)
Address: Torre Oeste de Parque Central, pisos 6-14, Caracas.
Phone: +58 212 509-06-90
SENCAMER (Servicio Autónomo Nacional de Normalización)
Website: http://www.sencamer.gob.ve/
