United States
Department of
Agriculture
Marketing and
Regulatory
Programs
Animal and
Plant Health
Inspection
Service
Washington, DC
20250
Subject: Implementation: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Minimal-Risk Regions and Importation of Commodities from Canada
To: Brokers, Importers, and Other Interested Parties
On January 4, 2005, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) published a final rule in the Federal Register to amend the regulations regarding the importation of animals and animal products and to recognize a category of regions that present a minimal risk of introducing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) into the United States via live ruminants and ruminant products. APHIS also added Canada to this minimal risk category, which allows the importation of certain live ruminants and ruminant products and byproducts from Canada under certain conditions. The effective date of the final rule is March 7, 2005.
A. Effective March 7, 2005, the following ruminant products may be imported into
the United States from Canada without an import permit under the prescribed
conditions:
1. Beef (including veal) or bison meat, meat byproducts, and meat food products as defined by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) regulations in 9 CFR 301.2, when accompanied by the required Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) veterinary health export certificate certifying that the products:
a. Were processed in a CFIA-inspected establishment, which operates in compliance with an approved CFIA program to prevent commingling of ruminant meat products eligible for export to the United States with ineligible ruminant meat products;
b. Were derived from animals that were subjected to a ruminant feed ban equivalent to the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (21 CFR 589.2000);
c. Were derived from animals for which air-injected stunning was not used at slaughter;
d. Were derived from animals that were under 30 months of age when slaughtered; and
e. Do not contain specified risk materials (SRMs) as defined by FSIS regulations (9 CFR Parts 301, 309, et. al.).
Establishments wishing to export to the United States must also comply with the following FSIS requirements that the meat, meat food, or meat by-products:
a. Do not contain mechanically separated bovine meat.
b. Do not contain product from an advanced meat recovery (AMR) system in which SRMs were used.
c. Are derived from animals that have been determined to be fit for slaughter (i.e. were not non-ambulatory disabled).
For the purposes of this rule, all conditions above also apply to bison.
2. Whole or half carcasses of beef (including veal) or bison from animals under 30 months of age when slaughtered that are accompanied by the required CFIA veterinary health export certificate certifying that the conditions specified in item one have been met and that the carcasses are from CFIA establishments that meet FSIS requirements also specified in item one.
3. Sheep or goat meat, meat byproducts, and meat food products as defined by the FSIS regulations in 9 CFR 301.2, when accompanied by the required CFIA veterinary health export certificate certifying that the products:
a. Were derived from animals slaughtered at a CFIA-inspected establishment that either slaughters only ovine and caprine species less than 12 months of age or operates in compliance with a segregation program approved by the CFIA and the Administrator as adequate to prevent contamination or commingling of the meat with products not eligible for importation into the United States;
b. Were derived from animals that were less than 12 months of age when slaughtered;
c. Were derived from animals that did not test positive for and were not suspect for a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy;
d. Were derived from animals that have not resided in a flock or herd that has been diagnosed with BSE; and
e. Were derived from animals not subject to movement restriction within Canada as a result of exposure to a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy or that the product is derived from ovine or caprine meat products legally imported in Canada from the United States or from a region not considered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to be affected with or at risk for BSE.
4. Carcasses of sheep or goats from animals that were less than 12 months of age when slaughtered and accompanied by the required CFIA veterinary health export certificate certifying that the conditions specified in item 3 above have been met.
5. Cervid meat, including hunter harvested cervid meat (e.g., deer, moose, elk, caribou, etc.) will be allowed unrestricted entry. Importers will need to present to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer evidence that the product is cervid meat, such as a hunting license or commercially prepared labels found on unopened packages or other official documents.
6. Hunter harvested wild ruminant (non-cervid) meat or dressed carcasses (eviscerated and head removed) such as wild sheep, goats, or bison/buffalo when accompanied by the hunter with a hunting license, tag, or equivalent.
7. Bone derived bovine gelatin when accompanied by the required CFIA veterinary health export certificate.
8. Tallow accompanied by the required CFIA veterinary health export certificate certifying that it contains less than 0.15 percent insoluble impurities.
9. Sheep casings when accompanied by the required CFIA veterinary health export casings certificate.
10. Offal, derived from cattle or bison that were under 30 months of age when slaughtered, or derived from sheep, goat, and cervidae when accompanied by the required CFIA veterinary health export certificate.
11. Food products containing relatively small amounts of ruminant ingredients, e.g. 2 percent or less cooked bovine meat or 3 percent or less raw bovine meat, from animals under 30 months of age, for commercial use when accompanied by the required CFIA veterinary health export certificate. Examples of such products are prepared foods that are not regulated by FSIS and that contain bovine extracts such as: flavored noodles, soup products and bouillon.
12. All products identified in items 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 above that clear CBP at designated ports of entry must proceed to an official FSIS import establishment (listed below in section E) for reinspection. All shipments presented to FSIS for reinspection must include complete Customs Entry Numbers in order for an inspection assignment to be generated.
Beginning March 7, 2005, the conditions prescribed in the final rule will take effect. All of the above commodities (excluding cervid and hunter harvested ruminant meat) will be required to be accompanied by a CFIA certificate and presented to a CBP Agricultural Inspector Specialist (CBP AIS) at the ports of entry listed under Section D.
B. Import permits, (VS Form 16-6), will still be required for the following products:
1. Ruminant products transiting the United States from Canada. Ruminant products transiting the United States must meet all USDA import requirements for ruminant products from Canada.
2. Pet food that contains ruminant products of non-Canadian origin or non-ruminant animal products processed in facilities that do not receive, store, or process ruminant products.
3. Animal feed that contains ruminant products of non-Canadian origin or non-ruminant animal products processed in facilities that do not receive, store, or process ruminant products.
4. Ruminant hide derived gelatin limited to human or industrial use.
C. The following products continue to be prohibited:
1. Personal use amounts of beef, lamb, and goat meat.
2. Pet food in passenger baggage and groceries.
D. The following ports of entry must be used for shipments requiring CFIA
certification. Arrival at the port of entry must be during the listed hours of
operation. These hours are when CBP-AIS are available: