# Presentation: 584511

## Managing Meat, Poultry and Egg Products Imports 

## FSIS Regulated Imports

- In FY 2006, the United States imported 3.9 billion pounds of meat and poultry products from 29 eligible foreign countries and 5.9 million pounds of egg products from Canada

-    **46% **
**Canada**

-    **22%**
**Australia**

-  **20%**
**Other**

**12% New Zealand**

**14% Processed **
**        ****Meat**

** ****84% Fresh**
**  ****Red Meat**

**2% Fresh Poultry**

## FSIS Regulated Imports

- _Egg products imports_:
- 60 percent Pasteurized
- Liquid
- Frozen
- 38.5 percent Unpasteurized
- Liquid
- Frozen
- 1.5 percent Dried

## Entry into the United States

- Imported meat, poultry, and egg products must satisfy the requirements of two USDA agencies before entering U.S. commerce.
- One:  Animal disease controls enforced by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
- Two: Food safety/public health controls enforced by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)

**Notes:**
Un-denatured inedible products typically are imported for further processing into pet food.  Permits must be obtained by OIA and these shipments are not permitted to deviate from the identified destination recorded on the permit.  Import Surveillance Liaison Officers (ISLO’s) monitor these incoming shipments for compliance to the permits.

## FSIS Control of Imported Product

- 	FSIS has three mechanisms of control for imports:
- Foreign countries must be determined eligible to export to the U.S.
- 	-- meat, poultry, and egg products intended for human consumption must satisfy APHIS animal disease requirements and may be imported only from eligible countries as determined by FSIS
- Foreign establishments must be certified
- Port-of-entry reinspection of all import shipments

## Entry into the United States

- Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
- FDA is responsible for seafood, fruits and vegetables, and denatured animal products not intended for human food.
- FDA regulates some processed products containing small amounts (less than 3 percent) of meat and poultry exempt from FSIS regulation.

**Notes:**
Amenable means “under the jurisdiction of”.

Poultry exemptions are listed under 9CFR381.15 however, the raw ingredients used in these products must still come from an approved or equivalent country.  It is the importers responsibility to prove that all requirements are being met.

Species under Voluntary Inspection are such as “venison” or “bison”.

Denatured means “to have a substance applied that makes it clear that the product would not be confused with product that is for human consumption”.  Examples of denaturants are charcoal and oil of citronella.  These denaturants need to add color and or smell to the product.

## Entry Into the United States

- Importer of record files entry with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
- CBP completes agriculture checks for restricted products (per APHIS requirements)
- Releases shipment _**to FSIS**_ for reinspection (public health requirements)

## Entry Into the United States

- Importers are required to post a “bond", usually an amount to cover the value of the shipment plus duties and fees.
- Shipments remain under bond and subject to re-delivery by CBP until FSIS releases the shipment.

- _www.cbp.gov_

**Notes:**
Shipments of meat, poultry and egg products that are not presented to FSIS for re-inspection are known as “Failures to Present” (FTP).  In such cases OIA will submit a “Request for Re-delivery” to CBP in which case, fines and duties can be assessed on the Importer by Customs and Border Protection.

## FSIS Control of Imported Product

- 74 Import Inspectors stationed at 33 major ports _verify every shipment_ meets USDA/FSIS requirements
- Product Examinations
- Review foreign establishment certification, health certificate and other required documentation; review for product damage and general condition; ensure proper labeling; and verify box count
- Laboratory Examinations
- Microbiological contamination, residues (veterinary drugs & pesticides), food chemistry, species identification, pathology, and biological threat agents

**Notes:**
Every shipment of meat, poultry and processed egg products must be presented to an FSIS inspector. There are 74 import inspectors stationed at 33 major ports on the perimeter of the country.  

They first check the documentation for every shipment, and they look at the entire shipment for general condition—that is, box and product damage that might have occurred during transit—correct box count, and proper labeling. 

Information about the shipment is entered into the AIIS, and the system randomly assigns additional in-depth inspections. These include random selection of boxes from the shipment and examination of the product inside. It can also include laboratory sampling for microbiological contamination, chemical residues, food chemistry, species identification, pathology, and biological threat agents.

Random sampling is designed to provide a picture of the foreign government’s inspection system. Samples are assigned by product type, and the frequency is based on the volume of that type of product from the foreign country.  

Based on the results of the inspection, the shipment is either passed or refused entry. The results are entered into the AIIS.  If a shipment is refused entry, future shipments of the product from the same foreign plant will have an in-depth inspection by FSIS.  

## FSIS Control of Imported Product

- FSIS must take enforcement action when:
- Importers fail to present eligible meat, poultry, and egg products for inspection after their release by CBP
- When imported product shipments arrive at U.S. ports of entry from ineligible sources
- When imported product fails inspection and is refused entry
- When uninspected or ineligible imported product is discovered in domestic commerce

## FSIS Import Enforcement - ISLOs

- FSIS’ 22 Import Surveillance Liaison Officers (ISLOs) are focused on enforcement at port-of-entry
- ISLOs coordinate cargo monitoring activities with CBP, APHIS, FDA, and the National Fish and Wildlife Service (NFWS), as well as with importers and brokers.
- The goal of import surveillance is to find, investigate, and control noncompliant imported products moving in domestic commerce.
- FSIS maintains an Import Alert database to track the monitoring and control of noncompliant product.

## FSIS Control of Imported Product

- Reasons for Import Alerts
- Adulterated Product
- Failure to Present for FSIS Inspection
- Ineligible Product
- Shipments controlled by other agencies
- U.S. returned product

## FSIS Import Initiatives

- International Trade Data System (ITDS)
- Electronically links all Federal agencies with import regulatory responsibility to CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE)
- Participating Government Agency (PGA) since 2003
- Safe Ports Act makes ITDS integration mandatory

## FSIS Import Initiatives

- International Trade Data System (ITDS) has provided portal access to ACE
- FSIS import personnel query ACE and target suspicious consignments to help identify:
- Potential ineligible or smuggled shipments
- Shipments that fail to present for import reinspection prior to entering commerce

## FSIS Control of Imported Products

**	****Through the ACE Portal, FSIS secured real-time access to shipment entry summary data previously obtained from CBP only through printed reports received up to 45 days after entries were filed:**
**Customs Entry Number**
**Entry Line**
**Entry Date**
**Entry Type**
**Entry Type Description**
**Unit of Measure and Quantity**
**Port-of-Entry code**
**Port-of-Entry name**
**Country of Origin**
**HTS Code**
**HTS Description**
**Importer Name**
**Importer of Record number**
**Filer Name**
**Filer Code**
**Consignee Name**

## FSIS Control of Imported Products

- Using ACE entry data, FSIS can determine:
- If shipments have entered from ineligible countries or establishments
- Ports-of-entry of noncompliant shipments
- Importer of Record and Consignee for noncompliant shipments
- Detention or redelivery actions taken by CBP

## FSIS Import Enforcement 

- As a result ACE Portal access, between FY 2005 and FY 2006, the amount of ineligible product detected, detained, and removed from commerce and the food chain by FSIS increased 44 fold -- from 36,000 to 1.6 million pounds.
- During the first 6 months of FY 2007, FSIS controlled 1.5 million pounds of ineligible product.

**Notes:**
As part of our stepped-up focus on food security, FSIS has 22 Import Surveillance Liaison Officers who are focused on enforcement at the ports. The inspectors work inside warehouse facilities that are designated for import inspections. The ISLOs work outside the import inspection faciliities, at the ports and at other locations where imported product might be found. They work closely with other border regulatory agencies, including Customs and Border Protection and FDA.  

We are seeing the benefits of the ISLOs as we improve our ability to detect, detain and remove from commerce product that is not eligible to enter the United States.  Between fiscal years 2005 and 2006, they increased their ineligible product removed by 44 times. This includes products eligible to enter the United States, but were not presented to FSIS for inspection; products from countries or plants not eligible to export to the United States.

This increase has been in large part due to our outreach efforts with Customs, which have resulted in increased awareness of FSIS regulations. 

In addition to the work of the ISLOs, during 2006, FSIS import inspectors rejected 2 percent of reinspected product. Rejections are for transportation damage, labeling or documentation problems, and other deficiencies such as off-condition and failure of laboratory analyses.

Refused Entry product must be either re-exported, destroyed, or converted to animal food, if approved by FDA.

## Future ACE Benefits

- ACE portal access is a bridge to a permanent electronic interface between CBP and FSIS.
- ACE facilitates import commerce by reducing the paperwork burden associated with FSIS-regulated imported product.
- FSIS inspectors spend less time on data entry; more time inspecting and clearing shipments.

## Future FSIS InitiativesAutomated Export-Import Information System (AEIIS)

- Will provide platform for two-way interface with ACE
- Ability for FSIS to transmit (export) and receive (import) electronic certificates between foreign inspection systems
- Electronic certificate data used to verify shipment entry data filed in ACE

## References

- FSIS International Web Site
- _[http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/IPS/](http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/IPS/)_
- Import Manual of Procedures
- _[http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/op/IIM/TOCIIM.htm](http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/op/IIM/TOCIIM.htm)_

## Contact Information

- Robert T. Tuverson
- FSIS Office of International Affairs
- Import-Export Program Staff
- (202) 690-3981
- _[importexport@fsis.usda.gov](mailto:importexport@fsis.usda.gov)_