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Serbia’s 2009 “Law on Genetically Engineered Organisms (GEOs)” prohibits the importation and commercial production of genetically engineered crops. While Serbia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management has prepared a more forward-leaning “Law on GEOs” amendment in 2018, the current Serbian government has not considered adoption of this revision.

On October 1, 2019, El Salvador agreed to harmonize the biosafety technical regulation for “modified living organisms” for agricultural use with Guatemala and Honduras and designated the Ministry of Agriculture as the National Competent Authority to provide authorizations and keep registries related to biotechnology.

This report provides examples of the significant export certificates and other documents required by the government of El Salvador for U.S. exports of food and agricultural products.

Since August 7, 2024, the Superintendence for Sanitary Regulation has been responsible for food and beverage product registration in El Salvador.

Central Asia is a diverse, important corner of the world and a growing market for U.S. goods. Agricultural imports from the world for Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan totaled $11.6 billion in 2023 and have nearly doubled over the last three years, with the United States as the 11th largest trade partner at $196 million.

In 2023, U.S. agriculture exports to El Salvador reached $860 million, a slight drop of 12 percent compared to 2022 due mainly to lower wheat and oil seeds imports. However, the consumer-oriented products category saw a promising increase from $349 million to $364 million, marking a 4.4 percent growth.

El Salvador's coffee production is expected to reach 555,000 sixty-kg-bags in marketing year (MY) 2023/24. The Salvadoran coffee sector continues to be affected by climate vulnerability and an absent long-term strategy.

Serbia’s Marketing Year (MY) 2024/25 wheat area is forecast at 625,000 hectares (HA), 14 percent lower than the previous year. If the predicted yield of 5 MT/HA is achieved, wheat production is expected to reach 3.1 Million Metric Tons (MMT).

Sugar production in marketing year (MY) 24 is estimated at 787,000 metric tons (MT), while production for MY23 reached 765,000 MT. Continued international prices have eased the financial burden exerted by the high cost of inputs on the sugar sector.

Serbia offers good opportunities for the U.S. exporters of consumer-oriented agriculture products. From January-October 2023, total U.S. exports of agriculture products to Serbia reached $22.6 million, an increase of about 16 percent compared to the same period in 2022.

In 2022, El Salvador imported $973 million of agricultural products from the United States, out of which about $283 million were consumer oriented.

This report provides a guide to the certificate requirements for agricultural and food products intended for export to Serbia.