According to the provisions of Government Decree 80/2024. (IV. 11.) Government Decree, importers must notify the National Food Chain Safety Authority (NÉBIH) in advance of any intended importation of agricultural products listed in Annex 1 of the Decree.
This requirement applies during the state of emergency declared by Decree 424/2022, which came into force on 28 October 2022.
The notification process involves the submission of comprehensive information on the importer, the specific agricultural product, details of the intended consignee, the intended import period and the transport logistics. This information must be submitted in writing on a form provided by NÉBIH.
The import of agricultural products into Hungary can be declared on this page: https://nebih.gov.hu/web/guest/mgbehozatal
Importers must submit their notifications in Hungarian at least 24 hours prior to import, with a shorter deadline of 6 hours for imports by air or water.
The decree allows for multiple imports to be included in a single notification, provided they occur within 30 days of the initial notification.
Failure to comply with these requirements or to provide complete documentation can result in severe penalties. The police and state tax and customs authorities are responsible for enforcing compliance, with administrative fines of up to forty per cent of the value of the notifiable product imposed on non-compliant importers.
The decree also outlines documentation requirements, stating that documentation of the notification must accompany the shipment and be made available to the carrier or organiser. It makes it clear that compliance with the provisions of this regulation will be strictly monitored by the aforementioned authorities, and that there will be no leniency for non-compliance.
The list of agricultural products covered by the Decreee is as follows:
- meats (beef, pork, lamb or goat meat; edible meat, offal and offal of poultry of the species Gallus domesticus) in fresh, chilled or frozen forms,
- bird’s eggs in their shells, fresh, preserved or cooked, vegetables (raw, cooked by steaming or boiling in water or frozen),
- cereals: wheat, rye, barley, maize, buckwheat, millet and canary seed;
- flours: wheat flour and other cereal flours, cereals otherwise processed (e.g. hulled, flattened, flaked, polished, sliced or coarsely ground);
- seeds: rapeseed, sunflower seeds, safflower seed and cottonseed oil,
- oils: rapeseed and mustard oil,
- crispy bread,
- vegetables (except candied) prepared or preserved without vinegar or acetic acid (except tomatoes and edible mushrooms), not frozen;
- wine from fresh grapes, including fortified wine; grape must (except grape juice) and except wine vinegar under heading 2209.