Arte Seal – handcrafted products of animal origin

Understand how the art seal works.

Click on the image above to understand how the Arte Seal works, which addresses the sanitary regulation of artisanal products of animal origin.

Arte Seal – Basic Information

By Rodrigo Noleto

What is it?

The Arte Seal is a way to regulate food products of animal origin, provided they are produced using artisanal methods. It was established by Law 13.680 of June 14, 2018, and regulated by Decree 9.918 of July 2019.

Background

Before this law, the regulation of all food products of animal origin restricted their circulation to the inspection system to which they were subject. For example: A product registered in the municipal inspection system (SIM) could only be marketed in that municipality. The same situation occurred in the states (SIE). The only exception was conditional on registration with the Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA) itself or, if the systems were equivalent, through SUASA (established by Law 9.712, of February 20, 1998, which amended Law No. 8.171, of January 17, 1991, regulated by Decree No. 5.741, of March 30, 2006). The problem is that this adherence of states and municipalities to the federal system is bureaucratic, and its adherence policy has not been effective, with many states still not adhering and the number of municipalities being negligible. Only 13 states, 22 municipalities and 03 consortia have joined SUASA*.

See more, click here.

What is the purpose of the Arte Seal?

The law fulfills a long-standing societal demand, aiming to "reduce bureaucracy" in the registration of family farming and artisanal producers, allowing the sale of these products throughout the country. In the case of the "Selo Arte" (Artisanal Seal), if an "artisanal" cheese factory in northern Minas Gerais "registers" its business and product with the State Inspection System (SIE), it can be sold anywhere in the country, including to institutional markets.

Who can use the Arte Seal?

Neither Law 13.680 of 2018 nor Decree 9.918 of 2019 defines the user. There is also no financial limit to prevent large enterprises from using the prerogatives of the Law and its regulations. This is an issue that still raises doubts about the granting process. However, the production method and the uniqueness of the product will be fundamental to its classification, which could prevent potential distortions in granting the seal to enterprises that are not genuinely "artisanal".

What does the product need to be required to meet this regulation?

Food products of “animal origin produced from “"Handcrafted" They should be made, predominantly from raw materials of own production or determined origin, resulting from techniques predominantly manuals, adopted by individuals that hold the Complete control of the production process.

To that end, MAPA launched a Public Consultation to determine how the product and the establishment will be evaluated.

See the Public Consultation (Decree No. 67, of July 31, 2019). click here.

In any case, the decree stipulates that the products must be subject to control by the official inspection service of the States and the Federal District, and the final product of the processing must be individualized, genuine, and maintain the uniqueness and traditional, cultural, or regional characteristics of the product.

According to the definition above, the product processing cannot be predominantly industrial; on the contrary, it must predominantly involve "handling" performed by people. Furthermore, the individual or artisan must have knowledge of the entire process up to the final product. Finally, the decree requires that the product have unique characteristics, meaning it must be one-of-a-kind, derived from traditional knowledge or a specific regional culture.

Who awards the Arte Seal?

MAPA will be responsible for managing the National Policy on Artisanal Agri-food ProductionStates and the Federal District may grant the Arte Seal if they have an "Agricultural Inspection Service" and possess "auditable records" approved by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA). This means that, although the state does not need to go through a process of joining SUASA (Unified System for Attention to Agricultural Health), which is much more complex and has very low participation, the state still needs to organize its internal procedures to be eligible to grant the "Arte Seal".

Another important piece of information is that Decree 9.918 allows states and the Federal District that already have regulations on artisanal products to continue granting artisanal product registration, provided that their regulations are in line with federal legislation.

This information is important so that states can create specific regulations, including those to encourage artisanal production.

Finally, the decree seeks to stimulate registered artisanal production, ensuring safe access for the population. To this end, inspections and oversight by health inspection agencies should be primarily advisory in nature. In other words, the idea is that the law will be used for the productive and social inclusion of artisanal producers.

Sources:

October 22th, 2019

Opinion article

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