CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international treaty between the governments of countries involved in the international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants to protect the interests of endangered species.
All sturgeon caviar products must be tested and have a special CITES code on the label of each can.
WHY DO YOU NEED A CITES CODE?
Each original jar of caviar has a set of letters and numbers that gives knowledgeable consumers useful information about the product they are about to buy. What follows is a brief explanation of how to read this label yourself so that you know exactly what you are going to buy or eat, as well as when, where and by whom it was produced. This helps protect the consumer from counterfeiting. Therefore, when buying, you should definitely check for the presence of a CITES number on the jar, as this will help you avoid buying caviar that is not of good quality or not real, which has been becoming more and more lately.
DECRYPTION OF THE CITES CODE:
The CITES code on our products is located on the protective tape connecting the top and bottom of the jar where it says: RUT/C/MD/2022/001/10/0230
– The first three letters “RUT” indicate the fish species code. CITES has defined three-letter codes for species identification. This Sterlet caviar has the code «RUT» and the Latin name is “Acipencer Ruthenus”, other codes of our products are: «GUE» Russian Sturgeon from the Latin name “Acipenser Gueldennstaedti”, respectively Beluga «HUS» from “Huso Huso”, and Bester fish obtained from crossing Beluga and Sterlet «HUS x RUT» “Huso Huso x Acipenser Ruthenus”.
– The following letter “C” is the code for either “W” for wild plants or “C” for cultivated (or farmed) products.
– The next two letters “MD” inform you about the country of origin of the product. In our case it will be MD for Moldova.
– The next four digits “2022” is the year the caviar was harvested.
– The following combination of letters and numbers “001” is the official registration code of the manufacturer’s enterprise. Each country has established a national processer registration system with official registration codes assigned to individual locations. This number corresponds to this code.
– The final combination of letters and numbers “10/0230” is the batch identification number. This is consistent with information related to the caviar tracking system used by the processor or repackerim, which allows full traceability of the entire authentic batch of sturgeon caviar from producer to consumer.
Also on the ribbon a little lower you can read that our caviar does not contain GMOs and does not contain preservatives. On the bottom line is the name of our company London Caviar House Ltd. – as an official, exclusive representative and importer of Aquatir in the UK.
You may also be interested to know that on the other side of the jar there is a second protective tape with a number: “C” Aquaculture “RUT” and below AS1VF * 003235VF is the veterinary number of the enterprise, by which you can easily find out everything about the manufacturer and make sure that the products have passed strict veterinary and sanitary control at all stages of production and that the well-being of fish and our caviar is under the strict control of state veterinary services in accordance with world law.
IMPORTING CAVIAR TO THE UK:
In order for our company London Caviar House to be able to introduce caviar for sale in the UK, we first submit an application to the Bristol Animal and Plant Conservation Authority (APHA), which checks all the certificates and documents provided from Aquatir and if everything is fine, then after checking authorizes the importation of caviar into the UK. When caviar arrives in the UK, it undergoes a thorough check at the border veterinary station, where samples are taken from the jars and lab tested for suitability for consumption. After border checks, customs checks of documents and quality certificates, payment of fees and duties begin. After all customs and sanitary checks, caviar enters the storage office, which is also constantly subject to inspection by the local organization that controls the storage, transportation and dispatch of fish products to consumers. In general, the process is very long and not cheap enough, but in the end, the caviar ends up on the website of our store www.thecaviar.co.uk where you, dear customers, can safely buy from our company, knowing that the caviar is of excellent quality, which has passed all veterinary and sanitary checks and has a CITES security code, as a guarantor of the highest quality products.
