Coffee Export Procedures
Sources: Instituto Salvadoreño del Café (website)
All green coffee exports from El Salvador are governed by the Ley Especial para la Comercialización, Registro y Protección de la Propiedad del Café, approved in 2024. The ISC is the regulatory body. Export authorization has two phases.
Phase 1: Contract Inscription
Every export begins with the inscription of the Contrato de Venta Externa (external sales contract) in the ISC’s digital platform.
Deadline: within 3 business days of signing the contract (Art. 31 of the Ley Especial). Missing this deadline is classified as a serious infraction (Art. 44).
Required contract information:
- Correlative contract number (assigned by exporter)
- Exporter name and code
- Buyer name, address, country
- Total weight (kg), quantity, packaging configuration
- Harvest year
- Coffee quality
- Coffee preparation
- Brand
- Estimated shipment month (if known)
- Destination country and port (or “open” — declared at permit stage)
- Price and price conditions
- Conditions of delivery (Incoterms)
- Payment terms
Quality sample: as part of Phase 1, the exporter must send a sample to the ISC Quality Control Lab for analysis. This is mandatory before the export permit is issued.
Phase 2: Export Permit
Once the contract is inscribed and the quality sample is approved, the exporter requests one or more Permisos de Exportación (export permits). Each permit is tied to the inscribed contract and limited to the contracted quantity.
Fees
| Fee | Rate |
|---|---|
| Registry/tasa de registro | $0.35 per quintal exported |
| FEC Special Contribution | $0.50 per quintal exported |
| Total per quintal | $0.85 |
At 100 quintals (4,600 kg), total fees = 425.
Sample Exports (Non-Commercial)
Permisos sin valor comercial (non-commercial sample permits) allow sending coffee samples for evaluation purposes:
- Maximum: 100 lbs per permit
- Frequency: maximum once per month per exporter (exceeding this is treated as regular export activity)
Exporter Registry
Exporters must be registered with the ISC. Registration requires documentation including: DUI / legal representative credentials, commercial registration, NIT, property or tenancy documentation. See ISC for full list.
Practical Implications for Kaiserblick
- Register early: Kaiserblick must be registered as an exporter before making the first shipment
- ISC quality lab as pre-shipment check: the mandatory quality sample is also an opportunity to obtain an independent technical report — useful documentation to share with European buyers alongside the lot’s own cupping notes
- 3-day contract inscription: once a buyer is confirmed and a contract is signed, the clock starts immediately; digital inscription is now possible via ISC’s platform
- Budget $0.85/quintal in export cost planning
- DO on export documents: export documentation can reference the Denominación de Origen Café Apaneca-Ilamatepec — legally protected origin claim recognized by the EU