Information & Requirements

What is a Certificate of Free Sale?

Foreign governments sometimes require a “Certificate of Free Sale”, sometimes called a “Certificate for Export” or “Certificate to Foreign Governments”, when companies import products. The certificate of free sale is evidence that goods, such as food items and/or cosmetics, are legally sold or distributed in the open market, freely without restriction, and approved by the regulatory authorities in the country of origin (United States).

Upon review, the World Trade Center Harrisburg can issue a Certificate of Free Sale for products legally sold in the United States*. A Certificate of Free Sale states that the company selling the products has submitted evidence to us that the products listed on the certificate are freely sold in the United States.

*Please note that if the EPA, FDA or the U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates the product you must obtain the certificate from that agency or your state department of agriculture.

Requirements for a Certificate of Free Sale

We require the following documents in order to issue a certificate of free sale:

For products that are manufactured in the United States you must be able to prove this by submitting a written declaration from the manufacturer (a written declaration from your company if you are the manufacturer) stating that the products are manufactured in the United States (one time only). If there is more than one manufacturer, we will need a written declaration from each manufacturer. If this is the case, please specify which products on your certificate are related to which manufacturer.

For each product you would like listed on the Certificate of Free Sale, your company must submit copies of invoices showing the sale of each product to two (2) different U.S. customers The invoices should be dated within the last 12 months and the product names must be the same as how they will appear on the certificate. Please note that if you have more than one product, we can list up to ten on one certificate (though we will still need copies of invoices showing the sale of each product to U.S. customers).