The CITES Caviar Code Explained

A CITES caviar label must be impossible to transfer intact. Under the CITES system, every primary container, the tin, jar or other receptacle touching the roe, receives a non-reusable label; if that label does not seal it, the packaging must reveal when it has been opened.

The code on that label tells a compact story: declared species, source, country of origin, year, registered plant and batch reference. Its six fields support traceability and point to records that can be checked. Establishing what is inside takes more than reading the print.

What the universal system covers

The system follows the caviar, from wild or aquaculture production through domestic and international trade, whether commercial or non-commercial. Its governing text is CITES Resolution Conf. 12.7 (Rev. CoP17), Conservation of and trade in sturgeons and paddlefish, still the current revision after CoP20. Annex 1 sets out the labelling guidelines; Annex 2 supplies the species codes and hybrid convention. National legislation gives the requirements their legal force.

Here, caviar means processed unfertilised eggs of Acipenseriformes, the order containing sturgeons and paddlefish.

A secondary container holds primary containers or groups of them. For export or re-export, it must state the exact quantity of caviar and give a customs description of the contents. One outer label cannot replace the labels on the individual containers.

Decode a CITES caviar code

Six fields. Read them in order, before the branding around them.

Teaching example, not a real label: XXX/Q/ZZ/0000/0000/000. Every value is deliberately invalid or a placeholder. It shows the six positions on an original processing label, not a usable code.

Together, these fields identify the declaration and the records to follow. Ingredients, storage statements and other packaging details sit outside this sequence; read them with the whole-label guide.

Species and hybrid codes

The first field names the declared fish, not the product. It uses a three-letter species code, or two joined parental codes for a hybrid. This selection follows the scientific names in CITES Annex 2.

For hybrids, the father comes first. Annex 2 specifies the male parent’s code, then x, then the female parent’s code. SCHxDAU therefore declares a male Amur sturgeon, Acipenser schrenckii, crossed with a female Kaluga, Huso dauricus. The same order appears in 50 CFR 23.71(b)(2)(i).

Keep that order even if the sales description reads differently. Farming and trade prose may name the female first; Codex CXS 291-2010, Annex A, expressly does so. Codex is a food standard, while the code’s parental order comes from CITES. The hybrid labelling guide explains the distinction.

To keep the table aligned with the labelling system, it uses CITES names. On 22 October 2025 the IUCN SSG and WSCS rejected the Brownstein and Near revision and proposed dissolving Huso.

Source codes: W, R, F and C (summary)

The source letter describes legal origin, not quality. Its definitions come from Resolution Conf. 12.3 (Rev. CoP20), paragraph 3(r); C refers to the captive-breeding criteria in Resolution Conf. 10.16 (Rev. CoP19).

• W: specimens taken from the wild.
• R: ranched specimens. These animals were taken from the wild as eggs or juveniles and reared in a controlled environment; their chance of surviving to adulthood in the wild would otherwise have been very low.
• F: animals born in captivity, in the first or subsequent generations, that do not meet the resolution’s definition of bred in captivity. This includes their parts and derivatives.
• C: animals meeting that definition of bred in captivity, including their parts and derivatives, exported under Article VII, paragraph 5, of the Convention.

F and C therefore mean different things. Neither is simply an interchangeable translation of “farmed”. Annex 1(b) of Resolution Conf. 12.7 specifically directs F for caviar from a captive-born female with at least one wild-origin parent, among other situations.

W, R, F and C are a summary, not the entire source-code list. Other circumstances have other codes. If a letter is unfamiliar, check the current resolution and the shipment’s supporting records rather than guessing from the tin’s wording.

Country, year, plant and lot numbers

Country: do not confuse origin with the brand’s nationality or the latest distributor’s address. The third field records origin using the ISO two-letter country code. Repacking abroad leaves this origin field unchanged.

A traceability declaration points to records; it does not by itself prove what is inside.

Year: do not read this automatically as an expiry date. An original processing label records harvest; a repackaging label records repackaging. A repackaging year does not tell you the original harvest year.

There is a specific US provision worth checking: for imports from shared stocks subject to quotas, 50 CFR 23.71(b)(2)(iv) allows the harvest year to be the quota year rather than the calendar year. Consult the applicable documents before interpreting the date.

Plant: do not assume this identifies the farm that raised the fish. It identifies the registered processing or repackaging facility. Use the CITES register guide to match both facility and activity. A similar company name is not enough.

Lot: do not treat this as a universal serial number you can decode unaided. The final reference connects the container with the plant’s tracking records, and its meaning depends on those records.

Repacker codes vs producer codes

Repacking changes part of the code, but not the caviar’s declared origin.

A processing plant carries out the first packing into a primary container in the country of origin. A repackaging plant transfers caviar into new primary containers, including when it divides a larger container into smaller ones.

On a repacked tin, the species, source and original country remain. The year changes to the repackaging year, and the plant field identifies the repacker. If repacking takes place in another country, the plant code incorporates that country’s two-letter ISO code.

Under Annex 1(e), the final field may instead contain a CITES export permit or re-export certificate number. The US rule is more specific: for re-exported caviar, it allows the number of the CITES document under which the caviar was imported.

An unopened original primary container keeps its original label if no repackaging occurs, including on re-export. Before assigning the roe to the country in a repacker’s address, read origin versus repacking.

EU, UK and US implementation

Domestic law makes the common system enforceable. The resolution recommends that system to CITES Parties; it does not replace their legislation. The EU, UK and US provisions are summarised below. Switzerland, China, Japan, the UAE, Russia and Australia apply their own rules.

For a regulated shipment, match the label information to the CITES document or its annex, then check the quantities.

Eligible personal effects of up to 125 g per person may qualify for documentation exemptions, subject to labelling and national conditions. A correctly formatted code cannot replace an import permit or override species-specific restrictions and other import controls.

What the code proves, and what it does not

The code is a traceability declaration. It names the species and origin claimed, then points to facilities and records that can be checked. It cannot, by itself, establish species identity, hybrid parentage or the absence of undeclared material.

CITES itself calls for the development of DNA-based identification and other methods to help identify specimens and distinguish wild from aquaculture origin where DNA methods are unsuitable.

For professional intake, retain a legible label record alongside the supplier’s documents. Resolve inconsistencies before accepting the consignment as verified. Where label and permit details disagree, Annex 1(h) directs the importing Management Authority to contact its exporting or re-exporting counterpart to establish whether a genuine error has occurred.

For evidence about the contents, turn to the authenticity guide. To work through an actual code field by field, use the caviar label decoder with the original label in front of you, rather than a shortened transcription from a product description.

A traceability declaration points to records; it does not by itself prove what is inside.