Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Import Policy for Bovine Animals and Their  
Products and By -Products   
TAHD -DSAT -IE-2005 -9-6 Annex of Definitions  
 
 
 
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DEFINITIONS  
 
Note all definitions  within this import policy,  unless referenced otherwise , are based on the Health of 
Animals Act  and the Health of Animals Regulations , Interpretation, section 2 . 
 
Animal:  means any member of one of the species regulated by  CFIA , and, includes an embryo and a 
fertilized egg or ovum  
 
Animal food: means any food containing an animal product or animal by -product for chickens, turkeys, 
ducks, geese, ratites, game birds, ruminants, swine or horses but does not include such things  as fish 
meal or vitamin or mineral supplements that do not contain an imal products or by -products  
 
Animal by -product:  means an animal by -product that originated from a bird or from any mammal except 
a member of the orders Rodentia , Cetacea , Pinnipedia  and Sirenia  (Health of Animals Regulations )  
 
Animal product:  means an animal product that originated from a bird or from any mammal except a 
member of the orders Rodentia , Cetacea , Pinnipedia  and Sirenia   
 
Biologics (human):  drugs listed on Schedule D of  the Food and Drugs Act  includes names of individual 
products, product classes and reference to particular sources and methodology. Biologics are 
manufacture d from animals, or micro -organisms, or through th e use of animals or micro -organisms. 
Examples include blood and blood components, insulin, monoclonal antibodies, cytokines, protein 
hormones and gene therapy products1  
 
Bovine : means cattle or bison  and includes their exotic relatives. Taxonomically they are classified as 
members of the Subfamily Bovinae  from the genus Bos, which includes cattle (Bos taurus  and Bos 
indicus ) and bison ( Bos bison )  
 
BSE slaughter process:  means any process of slaughtering an animal other than  a process in which 
the animal is subjected, before being slaughtered, to  (a) a stunning process in which a device is used to 
inject compressed air or gas into the animal’s cranial cavity; or  (b) a pithing process involving laceration, 
after stun ning of the animal, of the animal’s central nervous tissue by means of an elongated rod -shaped 
instrument that is introduced into the animal’s cranial cavity  
 
Cosmetic:  includes any substance or mixture of substances manufactured, sold or represented for use in 
cleansing, improving or altering the complexion, skin, hair or teeth, and includes deodorants and 
perfumes2 
 
Drug : includes any substance or mixture of substances manufactured, sold or represented for use in (a) 
the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of a disease, disorder or abnormal physical state, or its 
symptoms, in human beings or animals ; (b) restoring, correcting or modifying organic functions in human 
beings or animals ; or (c) disinfection in premises in which food is manufactured, prepared or kep t3  
 
Device:  means any article, instrument, apparatus or  contrivance, including any component, part or 
accessory thereof, manufactured, sold or represented for use in (a) the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or 
prevention of a disease, disorder or abnormal physical state, or its symptoms, in human beings or 
                                                           
1 Summarized from Health Canada Fact Sheet: Subsequent Entry Biologics in Canada .  
2 Food and Drugs Act , Interpretation, Section 2, “Cosmetic”  
3 Food and Drugs Act , Interpretation, Section 2, “Drug”  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) Import Policy for Bovine Animals and Their  
Products and By -Products   
TAHD -DSAT -IE-2005 -9-6 Annex of Definitions  
Page 2 of 2 animals ; (b) restoring, correcting or modifying a body function or the body structure of human beings or 
animals ; (c) the diagnosis of pregnancy in human beings or animals ; or (d) the care of human beings or 
animals during pregnancy and at and after birth of the offspring, including care of the offspring, and 
includes a contraceptive device but does not include a drug4  
 
Food:  includes any article manufactured, sold or represented for use as food or drink for human beings, 
chewing gum, and any ingredient that may be mixed with food for any purpose whatever5  
 
Germplasm:  means semen, male or female germ cells or genetic material taken from a male or female 
germ cell for the purpose of producing a zygote and includes embryos but does not include a hatching 
egg6  
 
Meat:  means the edible part of a carcass that is the muscle associated with the skeleton, tongue, 
diaphragm, heart, gizzard or mammalian oesophagus, with or without accompanying and overlying fat, 
together with those parts of the bones, skin, sinews, nerves, blood vessels and other tissues that normally 
accompany the muscle and are not ordinarily removed in dressing a carcass, but does not include the 
muscle associated with the lips, snout, scalp or ears, mechanically recovered meat  or meat to which an 
ingredient other than meat has been added7  
 
Meat by -product:  means  edible blood, an edible organ or edible tissue that was derived from the carcass 
of a food animal, but does not include meat or mechanically recovered meat8  
 
Mechanically  recovered meat  (MRM) : means meat obtained using high pressure to recover the residual 
raw meat adhering to the bones after other boning proc esses have been completed9  
 
Ruminant:  means an animal of the suborder Ruminatiae and includes an animal of the family Camelidae  
 
Specified risk material:  means (a) the skull, brain, trigeminal ganglia, eyes, tonsils, spinal cord and 
dorsal root ganglia of  cattle aged 30 months or older; and (b) the distal ileum of cattle of all ages ( SRM in  
Food and Drug Regulations  and SRM in Health of Animals Regulations ) 
 
Tallow:  is an odourless, tasteless, waxy white fat consisting of suet (the hard fat about the kidneys and 
loins of cattle, sheep, and horses) or fats from other animals10  
 
Veterinary biologic:  means  (a) a helminth, protozoa or micro -organism,  (b) a substance or mixture of 
substances derived from animals, helminths, protozoa or micro -organisms, or  (c) a substance of synthetic 
origin , that is man ufactured, sold or represented for use in restoring, correcting or modifying organic 
functions in animals or for use in the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of a disease, disorder 
or abnormal physical state, or the symptoms thereof, in animal s;11 and includes any veterinary biologic 
derived through biotechnology ( Health of Animals Regulations ); veterinary biologics do not include 
veterinary drugs (which are assigned a DIN number) and are primarily regulated by Health Canada 
(Veterinary Drugs Di rectorate) under the authority of the Food and Drugs Act  and Regulations12 
 
                                                           
4 Food and Drugs Act , Interpretation, Section 2, “Device”  
5 Food and Drugs Act , Interpretation, Section 2,  “Food”  
6 Health of Animals Regulations , Part II, Importatio n of Germplasm and Animals, Definitions, Section 10,  
“Germplasm”  
7 Meat Inspection Regulations , Interpretation, Section 2, “Meat”  
8 Meat Inspection Regulations , Interpretation, Section 2, “Meat by -product”  
9 Canadian Institute of Health Research , Meeting the Challenge of Prion Diseases: Conference Proceedings and Invitational 
Research Planning Workshop Report , Appendix VIII Glossary of Terms and Acronyms,  Mechanically Recovered Meat.   
10 Tallow . (2009).  In Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved May 25, 2009 .  
11 Health of Animals Act , Interpretation, Section 2 , “Veterinary biologic”  
12 Veterinary Biologics Guideline 3.25E  Guideline for Importation of Veterinary Biologics.