APHIS Issues Memo on Delay of Final Rule on BSE Minimal Risk Regions for Canadian Cattle, Etc. (In Light of Court Injunction)

Although the final rule was to have taken effect on March 7, 2005, APHIS states that on March 2, 2005, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana issued a temporary injunction, preventing APHIS from implementing it. (See ITT's Online Archives or 03/04/05 news, 05030410, for BP summary.)

(The USDA has previously stated that ruminants are animals that have multiple stomachs, such as cattle, sheep, goats, bison, deer, elk, caribou, moose, camels, etc.)

Earlier Policy for Ruminants/Ruminant Commodities from Canada Now in Effect

Because of this injunction, APHIS states that until further notice, only those ruminants and ruminant commodities that were listed in an August 15, 2003 notice that was republished on May 6, 2004 will be eligible for importation from Canada, under the risk-mitigation measures specified in that notice.

Ruminant Commodities Listed in May 6 Notice May Be Imported Under Permit

APHIS' May 6, 2004 notice states that until further notice, the USDA will only issue import permits for the following ruminant-derived products from Canada:

Whole dressed carcass (eviscerated with head removed) or meat of wild sheep, goats, other non-cervid ruminants for personal use;

Whole dressed carcass (eviscerated with head removed) or meat of wild cervids for personal use;

Meat (bone in or bone out) from caribou and musk ox harvested in the province of Nunavut;

Cleaned hide and trophy of wild ruminants (skull and antlers) free of tissue including brain and lymphoid tissue, for personal use;

Animal feed including milk replacer and pet food, and feed ingredients containing only non-ruminant products;

Tallow for non-animal feed use;

Preps with Vitamin B12, for supplementing animal feed;

Vaccine for veterinary medicine for use in non-ruminants;

Finished pet chews made from bone, ligaments, hides, or hooves;

Fresh or frozen bovine liver;

Veal (including carcasses) from calves 36 weeks of age or under;

Sheep or goat meat, boneless, fresh or frozen, from animals under 12 months of age;

Cervidae meat from domesticated farmed animals processed in a slaughterhouse; bone in or bone out, fresh or frozen ground meat or sausage is allowable if it is derived from either (1) only cervidae meat, or (2) only cervidae and porcine meat;

Products (including meat or trophies such as antlers or skull) from Cervids harvested on a game farm or similar facility (so-called "shooter bulls" or "shooter bucks"); meat may be bone in or bone out, fresh or frozen; ground meat or sausage is allowable if it is derived from either (1) only cervidae meat, or (2) only cerivdae and porcine meat;

Bovine meat, boneless fresh or frozen from animals under 30 months of age; and

Ruminant products originating in a BSE-free region or from the U.S. that are processed in Canada, provided that the products are not commingled with ruminant products from regions affected with BSE.

personal use refers to meats and trophies from animals that are legally harvested

USDA sources have previously stated that this includes the following: trim/manufacturing trim derived from skeletal muscle with associated tissues, not including any ground meat, trim derived from a mechanical separation process (including advanced meat recovery (AMR)), or derived from vertebral column. However, no AMR, mechanically separated meat, ground meat, or low-temperature rendered product will be accepted for import.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 05/13/04 news, 04051315 for previous BP summary on APHIS' May 6, 2004 notice and an accompanying table, which were issued in response to a previous court action. See ITT's Online Archives or 08/25/04 news, 04082515, for a subsequent clarification regarding "boneless bovine meat."

See ITT's Online Archives or 01/05/05 and 01/06/05 news, 05010535 and 05010620, for Parts I and II of BP's summary of the final rule. See ITT's Online Archives or 02/11/05 news 05021107 for BP summary of the USDA's announcement of a delayed effective date for imports of beef from animals 30 months or older from Canada.)

APHIS' memo to importers, brokers, and other interested parties (dated 03/04/05) available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/bserisk.pdf

APHIS' May 6, 2004 notice and accompanying table available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/importers_revision_memo.pdf and http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/bse/BSE_CAN_l.pdf