Certificate of Free Sale

What a Certificate of Free Sale is — and is not

Your distributor is mid-registration in a new market, and the regulator wants proof that your product is genuinely on shelves back home. That proof is the Certificate of Free Sale — also called a Free Sale Certificate or Certificate for Export — an official document stating that your goods are legally sold or distributed in the open market of the exporting country, freely and without restriction, in compliance with home-country regulations.

Foreign governments request it because they want official assurance that a product entering their market can already be marketed where it comes from — most often as part of registering the product for import. One naming quirk to know up front: for many product types, FDA's formal document is the Certificate to a Foreign Government (CFG). When a destination insists on the words "Certificate of Free Sale," FDA adds that subtitle to a CFG — legally it remains a CFG, at CFG fees.

What it is not

• It is not an FDA approval. FDA states plainly that issuing an export certificate does not suggest or imply that the agency approves or sanctions the product or its labels.
• A chamber version is not a government finding. Chambers of commerce certify marketability based on the declarations you swear to — not product safety, and not compliance with the destination's regulations.
• It is not a shipment document. You need one when a foreign customer, distributor, or authority requests it — most commonly at product registration — not for every container that leaves port.

On Grovara, compliance documents like this are managed per order for brands and vetted buyers, so a registration request doesn't stall the deal — create a Grovara account to see the paperwork each market expects. The rest of this guide covers how to get the certificate, whatever the destination asks for.

Who issues your free sale certificate

The most common — and most expensive — mistake is applying to the wrong issuer. Who certifies your product depends entirely on what you sell:

FDA fees above are as of the fee schedule revised October 31, 2024 — verify current fees when you apply. For food certificates, FDA may only charge if the certificate is issued within 20 government working days; in practice, food applications are usually processed within a few days, and there is no paid expedite. The cosmetics certificate can take several weeks, and FDA will not issue it for products making drug claims — SPF, acne, or hair-growth language disqualifies the application.

Two more rules worth knowing. A device is only eligible for a CFG if it is legally marketed (510(k), PMA, De Novo, or preamendment status), its establishment is registered, the device is listed, and quality regulations are met — an open recall makes a device ineligible. And you do not have to be the manufacturer: FDA accepts applications from non-manufacturers as long as the manufacturer is identified.

One alcohol note: since July 2023, TTB lets exporters self-generate a secure electronic certificate through myTTB — but some destination countries still reject electronic certificates, so confirm with your importer before relying on it.

State-by-state: who issues a free sale certificate and what it costs

For many food and grocery products the practical official route is your own state government, and legacy federal export guidance says as much. The catch is that the office responsible changes from state to state, so applying to the wrong one is easy and costs you the whole turnaround. Departments of agriculture run the program in Minnesota, Michigan, Georgia, Ohio, and Oregon, while health departments run it in New Jersey, Texas, and Illinois. Florida is its own case: the state agriculture department stopped issuing export certificates on December 31, 2018, and the service now sits with SelectFlorida, a public-private organization rather than a state agency.

Fees span a wide range, from no charge in Oregon to $125 per certificate in Minnesota, and the pricing unit differs too — most states charge per certificate, while New Jersey and Texas scale the fee to how many products you list. Every figure below was checked against the issuing agency's own published page on July 28, 2026. Fees and turnaround times change without much notice, so confirm on the agency page before you apply.

What states require before they will issue one

A state certifies what its own inspectors can vouch for, so eligibility runs through your license rather than through your product. Across the programs above the prerequisites barely vary: a current state food license or registration, a facility inspection on file within the agency's inspection frequency, and no unresolved violations of public health significance. A few states add their own conditions. Washington will not issue if payment for earlier certificates is more than 90 days in arrears, Minnesota checks that no critical orders are outstanding, and Pennsylvania requires the establishment to be registered with the department first, which carries a separate $35 fee.

Where the product is manufactured is the other common disqualifier. Washington issues only for products made in Washington by a licensed plant, and Texas requires the goods to be physically present in the state and available for inspection. Illinois is the useful exception: it will consider an out-of-state firm when a co-packer supplies a letter confirming it manufactures the product.

Where a state certificate stops covering your product

Each program's scope follows its inspection authority, which is why several states will not certify categories you might assume they would. Illinois issues for food and dairy but not for supplements, cosmetics, medical devices, soaps, or fertilizers. Oregon excludes cosmetics, soaps, and hemp products. California's agriculture department covers milk and dairy only, and every other category routes through the Department of Public Health's Export Document Program instead. Pennsylvania narrowed its scope on July 1, 2025 and no longer issues certificates to vitamin and supplement manufacturers, except where those products are exported from a registered Pennsylvania warehouse or distribution center. Ohio sits at the broader end, covering food, beverages, and cosmetics on one certificate.

Validity is set by the issuer and is often tied to your inspection record rather than to a fixed term. Michigan certificates expire one year from issuance, Wisconsin treats a certificate as valid for as long as the producing company holds a current license, and Texas ties validity to the date of the last compliant inspection — 12 months for food, drug, and device manufacturers, 24 months for cosmetics and for distributors. New York and Pennsylvania each name a single destination country per certificate, so a second market means a second application.

If your state is not on this list

Not every state runs a free sale certificate program, and some handle requests through a named contact instead of a public application page. USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service maintains a point-of-contact list of state issuers, which is the quickest way to find who handles it where you manufacture. Where no state route exists, the FDA route above and the chamber route below both remain open — and the destination regulator has the final say on which one it will accept, so confirm with your importer before you pay for either.

The chamber route: fast, but not accepted everywhere

Chambers of commerce and world trade centers are the speed route: most issue a notarized Certificate of Free Sale the same or next business day, based on a sworn affidavit and proof that you actually sell the product in the United States.

How the chamber process works

1. Draft the affidavit on company letterhead — the template below follows the standard structure.
2. Attach proof of U.S. sales: typically two invoices from the last 12 months, with product names matching your labels exactly, plus a SKU list.
3. If you are not the manufacturer, add a manufacturer's declaration.
4. The chamber's certification officer signs, the certificate is notarized, and a raised seal is applied.

Typical fees: World Trade Center Denver charges $110 for members and $125 for non-members, names the destination country on the certificate, and treats it as valid for 12 months. The American World Trade Chamber of Commerce charges about $100 ($75 for members). For cosmetics, the Personal Care Products Council issues certificates to members at $385 standard (3–5 weeks) or $585 rush, valid two years.

The caveat that matters: some regulators accept only government-issued certificates. Exporters report that Saudi Arabia's SFDA does not accept free sale certificates from commercial chambers or notaries, and chambers themselves acknowledge that some countries mandate FDA- or state-issued documents. Before paying for the fast route, confirm with your importer — or the destination regulator directly — that a chamber certificate will be accepted.

Country requirements: apostille vs. legalization

Getting the certificate is half the job — most destinations also require it to be authenticated. There are two paths, and the destination's treaty status decides which one you are on:

• Apostille — for members of the Hague Apostille Convention: a single certification attached by one office, no embassy involved.
• Consular legalization — for non-members: a chain of notary or state certification, then the U.S. Department of State, then the destination country's embassy — often plus a certified translation.

Membership keeps changing, which is why older guides mislead: Saudi Arabia joined the convention effective December 7, 2022; the Philippines' FDA has accepted apostilled documents since May 14, 2019; and China's accession is widely reported as effective November 2023 — many guides still describe full legalization for China, so confirm current practice before filing.

Getting the apostille on the U.S. side

Who authenticates depends on who issued the certificate. Federal certificates (FDA, TTB) can only be apostilled by the U.S. Department of State's Office of Authentications — Form DS-4194, $20 per document, and historically five or more weeks by mail, so build that into your registration timeline. State and chamber certificates go to the Secretary of State of the issuing state instead, which is usually much faster.

Validity and renewal

There is no universal validity period for a Certificate of Free Sale — the destination country's rule always wins over whatever is printed on the document. That said, the common patterns:

• FDA device CFGs are valid for two years; Personal Care Products Council certificates run two years; WTC Denver certificates run 12 months and are country-specific.
• Some destinations only accept certificates issued within the past 6–12 months, regardless of stated validity.
• Mexico's COFEPRIS treats a certificate with no stated expiry as usable for 30 months from its issue date.

A CFS is a per-product document, not a per-shipment one: it supports registration, and multiple products can share a single certificate. Only a few regimes ask for one per shipment — your importer will know.

When a certificate lapses, renewal means reissuance. FDA cannot update an issued certificate — you clone the application and resubmit. Chamber certificates cannot be amended either; the fix is cancel and reissue. Triple-check company names, product names, and destinations before you file, because there is no editing after the fact.

Eight reasons free sale certificates get rejected

Regulators reject free sale certificates for predictable reasons. Eight cover nearly every case:

1. Wrong issuer. A chamber certificate sent to a regulator that only takes government-issued ones, or an FDA application for a product FDA does not certify — the single most common mistake.
2. Missing apostille or legalization. An unauthenticated certificate risks shipment delays and rejected registrations; the UAE, Kuwait, and Vietnam all require the full embassy chain.
3. A stale certificate. Destination rules override printed validity — Vietnam wants it valid on submission day; Mexico enforces the 30-month cutoff.
4. Product-name mismatches. Names on the certificate must match labels and invoices exactly, sizes included; COFEPRIS checks distinctive names and model codes character by character.
5. FDA-side refusal. Manufacturing-practice noncompliance, missing registration or listing, or enforcement action stops issuance — and an open device recall means no CFG.
6. Drug claims on cosmetics. SPF, acne, or hair-growth claims make a product ineligible for the FDA cosmetics certificate.
7. Trying to amend an issued certificate. Not possible — cancel and reissue; incomplete applications sent back for action are the main source of delay.
8. Assuming electronic is fine. Most authorities still want notarized paper originals with raised seals, and some reject TTB's electronic certificates outright.

Documents that get confused with a CFS

Seven documents get mistaken for a Certificate of Free Sale. One line on each:

• Certificate to a Foreign Government (CFG) — FDA's statutory certificate that a product meets U.S. marketing requirements; effectively FDA's free-sale document for conventional food, devices, and biologics.
• Certificate of Exportability — for products that cannot be marketed in the U.S. but may legally be exported: the opposite marketing status.
• Certificate of Origin — proves where goods were manufactured, for tariff treatment — not whether they are legally sold.
• Health Certificate — attests the fitness or sanitary condition of one specific shipment, not a product's market status.
• Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CPP) — the WHO-format certificate used for drugs.
• Phytosanitary Certificate — issued by USDA APHIS, certifying that plants and plant products are pest-free.
• GMP Certificate — attests a facility's manufacturing practices, not a product's free-sale status.

Sell across borders long enough and you will meet every document on this list. On Grovara, compliance documents are managed per order for brands and vetted buyers trading in 60+ countries — create your Grovara account to see exactly which documents each order needs, in one place.