The terms importers, distributors and retail buyers meet when they bring Italian food into the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, the Middle East and Brazil, explained in plain English. Each definition links to the guide that covers it in depth.

Trade terms

Incoterms

Standard trade terms that set the point where responsibility for the goods, their cost and their risk passes from seller to buyer. Always name the place with the term, because FOB without a port is not a term. Ask for the incoterm in the first email, before anyone builds a price.

Ex Works (EXW)

The goods are ready for collection at the producer's warehouse or a consolidation point in Italy, and the buyer's forwarder collects them. From collection onwards, transport and formalities sit with the buyer. ALL-FOOD sells Ex Works and FOB Italy, and within Europe can also deliver by road groupage, agreed case by case.

FOB (Free On Board)

The seller handles transport inside Italy and the export formalities, and responsibility passes to the buyer once the goods are loaded on the vessel at the named Italian port. The buyer pays the sea freight, clears the goods at destination and is importer of record.

CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight)

The seller also pays sea freight and insurance to the named destination port, but risk still passes when the goods are loaded at the origin port. The buyer clears the goods at destination and remains importer of record.

DAP (Delivered at Place)

The seller arranges transport to a named place, usually the buyer's address, and carries the risk until the goods arrive there ready for unloading. The buyer handles import clearance and duties where they apply; between EU member states there is no import clearance. Within Europe, ALL-FOOD can deliver DAP by road groupage, agreed case by case.

Importer of record

The party legally responsible for bringing goods into a country: filing the customs entry, paying the duties and answering to the authorities. Under EXW, FOB and CIF that is the buyer, in their own market. ALL-FOOD prepares the paperwork leaving Italy but is not importer of record.

Ordering and logistics

Minimum order quantity (MOQ)

The smallest quantity a producer will run per reference. It is driven by changeover, packaging and raw material lots, none of which scale down. The minimum that matters is the one on the reorder, per reference, not the one on the first order. ALL-FOOD's own minimum is one pallet, mixed across products and producers.

Mixed pallet

One pallet carrying products from several Italian producers, consolidated in Italy before it ships. The buyer places one order, receives one set of export documents and one arrival, instead of meeting each producer's minimum separately.

Groupage

Road freight in which pallets from several shippers share one truck, each paying only for its own space. It is how most mixed pallets travel from Italy to buyers elsewhere in Europe; in sea freight the equivalent is LCL. The groupage leg is booked either by the buyer's forwarder or, case by case, by ALL-FOOD and delivered to the buyer's address.

Logistics incidence

The total logistics cost of a shipment expressed as a percentage of the goods value. A pallet of cheap, heavy goods can run at around 24%. The same pallet built to 2,000 to 3,000 euros of goods value typically runs at 6 to 10%.

Reefer container

A refrigerated shipping container that holds a set temperature for the voyage. For cheese and cured meats, the producer's dispatch temperature must match the reefer setpoint on the booking, because a day off setpoint can turn a shipment into a write-off.

Validated shelf life

The shelf life a producer has proven through testing and recorded on the technical specification. It decides whether a product can travel by sea. Gulf importers typically expect half to three quarters of total shelf life to remain on arrival.

Private label

Products made by a producer and sold under the buyer's own brand. The minimum is set per product with the producer, and the buyer pays a one-off label plate and artwork setup per reference. It usually makes sense at the reorder, once a product has proven it sells.

Origin and product designations

PDO / DOP

Protected Designation of Origin, Denominazione di Origine Protetta in Italian. An EU designation that ties a product's name to a defined area and production method, such as Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano. Outside the EU, protection depends on the destination country's rules.

PGI / IGP

Protected Geographical Indication, Indicazione Geografica Protetta in Italian. A less restrictive EU designation than PDO: at least one stage of production must take place in the named area. It still signals geographic traceability.

Generic cheese names in the US

In the United States, names such as Parmesan, Romano and Asiago are treated as generic descriptors rather than protected origins, so domestic cheeses can use them. A genuine PDO cheese competes on its consortium mark, age statement and origin instead.

Extra virgin olive oil

The top olive oil grade: cold extracted, with free acidity no higher than 0.8% and no taste defects. Ask for the harvest date as well as the best-before date, because the Italian harvest runs from October to December and two bottles with the same best-before can be a year apart.

Quality and market access

Market access

A government's permission for a specific establishment, and sometimes each product, to export to its country. It is separate from food safety certification and decided per destination: FDA registration in the US, SFDA listing in Saudi Arabia, ministry accreditation in Brazil.

IFS and BRCGS

Private food safety standards audited by third parties, which retailers' technical teams expect a producer to hold. They show a factory runs a credible food safety system, but they are not permission to export to any particular country.

ISO 22000 and FSSC 22000

International food safety management standards. FSSC 22000 builds on ISO 22000 and is recognised by retailers in the same way as IFS and BRCGS. Like them, it does not grant market access to any country.

Halal certificate

A certificate that a product meets Islamic dietary rules. Saudi Arabia requires it for categories with animal-derived ingredients, including dairy, dough-based items and chocolate. It must come from a body recognised in the destination market, for Saudi Arabia through the Saudi Halal Center.

Health certificate

An official certificate issued in the country of origin for products of animal origin, such as cheese and cured meats, confirming the goods meet the destination's sanitary requirements. Each destination sets its own model, and not every producer can obtain every one.

Certificate of origin

A document stating the country where the goods were produced, used by customs at destination. Where a trade agreement gives preferential duty, the agreement sets its own proof: CETA, for example, uses an origin declaration on the invoice.

United States

FDA food facility registration

Registration of the foreign plant itself with the US FDA, with a designated US Agent. It must be renewed every two years, and the current renewal window runs from 1 October to 31 December 2026. A lapsed registration means the goods do not enter.

FSVP (Foreign Supplier Verification Program)

The US importer's obligation to verify that each foreign supplier meets US food safety standards and to keep the records on file. The Italian side supplies the supplier data the importer needs.

FDA Prior Notice

Advance notice to the FDA of every food shipment entering the US. For ocean freight it must be filed no more than 15 days and no less than 8 hours before the shipment arrives, usually by the customs broker.

ISF (Importer Security Filing)

A US security filing for ocean cargo, due at least 24 hours before the container is loaded at the origin port. It is usually filed through the customs broker or forwarder.

USDA FSIS

The US agency that regulates meat imports, including prosciutto, salami and mortadella, instead of the FDA. Only plants on the FSIS list of eligible foreign establishments for Italy can ship, and every consignment is reinspected on arrival.

Food Canning Establishment registration (FCE)

An FDA registration required for producers of acidified and low-acid canned foods, such as vegetables in jars or tins, together with a filed process for each product. Without it, a jarred product can be refused at the border.

60-day rule for raw milk cheese

The US rule that cheese made from unpasteurised milk must be cured at not less than 35°F for not less than 60 days. Long-aged cheeses such as Parmigiano Reggiano clear it easily. Young raw milk cheeses do not enter.

Canada

Safe Food for Canadians licence (SFC)

The licence the Canadian importer holds from the CFIA, obtained through the MyCFIA portal. The importer's preventive control plan must include evidence about each foreign supplier, which the Italian side provides.

CETA origin declaration

Under CETA, the trade agreement between the EU and Canada, preferential duty is claimed with an origin declaration on the commercial invoice, not with a EUR.1 certificate. Without a correct declaration, the preferential rate cannot be claimed.

Tariff-rate quota (TRQ)

An import quota under which a set volume enters at a low duty and anything above it pays a much higher one. Canadian cheese imports above quota can face tariffs above 200%, so quota allocation decides the landed cost.

UK, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Brazil

IPAFFS

The UK system for pre-notifying imports of animal products, plants and high-risk food. For products of animal origin, the standard requirement is a notification at least one working day before the goods arrive in Great Britain.

Imported Food Inspection Scheme (IFIS)

Australia's border inspection scheme, run by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). Foods are classed as risk or surveillance. Cheese is a risk food and is initially tested on 100% of consignments.

FSANZ

Food Standards Australia New Zealand, which sets the food safety and labelling standards imported food must meet, including the Nutrition Information Panel, allergen declarations and the country of origin statement.

SFDA registration

Saudi Food and Drug Authority approval, in stages. The plant must be on the SFDA list of approved establishments for its product category, then every product needs its own SFDA registration number, before the importer can obtain an import permit.

MAPA accreditation

Accreditation of a foreign establishment with Brazil's agriculture ministry, needed for products of animal origin. It is specific to Brazil: a producer with a strong European audit record and no Brazilian history starts from zero.

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Italian food import glossary