Risk Management Proposal   
Natural Sausage Casings  
 
MEACASIC.ALL  
 
 
 
 
 
June  2015   
 
 
 
 
Disclaimer  
 
This risk management proposal does not constitute, and should not be regarded as, legal advice. While 
every effort has been made to ensure the information in this document is accurate, the Ministry for 
Primary Industries does not accept any responsibility or liability whatsoever for any error of fact, 
omission, inter pretation or opinion that may be present, however it may have occurred.  
 
Requests for further copies should be directed to:  
 
Ministry for Primary Industries  
Regulation & Assu rance  
Animal Imports  
PO Box 2526  
WELLINGTON 6140  
 
Email:   animalimports@mpi.govt.nz  
Telephone:         04 890 0134  
Facsimile:           04 894 0733  
 
© Crown Copyright - Ministry for Primary Industries   
i Contents  Page 
 
1 Purpose  1 
2 Background  1 
3 Objective  1 
4 Options assessment  1 
5 General requirements for all importations of sausage casings  2 
6 Considerations for Specific Requirements for the Identified Risk Organism  2 
7 Recommendations for the Identified Risk Organism  2 
7.1 Classical Swine Fever Virus (CSFV)  2 
  
Ministry for Primary Industries   Risk Management Proposal   1 1 Purpose  
(1) The purpose of this document is to:  
a) Show how options have been assessed  for the management of risk o rganisms in natural sausage 
casings .  
b) Provide recommendations for import requirements.  
2 Background  
(1) Natural sausage casings are produced from animals (cattle, pigs, sheep or goats) that have passed post -
mortem and ante -mortem inspection according to th e OIE’s Terrestrial Animal Health Code  (the Code ) 
describing ‘ Control of biological hazards of animal health and public health importance through ante - and 
post-mortem meat inspection ’. After removal of gut contents, the intestines are cleaned and scraped.  
Sheep  and goat casings us e the inner submucosal layer of tissue, whereas cattle casings contain all 
tissue layers of the intestinal tract and exclude only the ileum (using all other sections of the animal gut).  
Pig casings use the submucosal layer of the small intestines and all layers of the large intestine.  
(2) After removing gut contents, cleaning and scraping, casings are stored at room temperature in either dry 
salt or saturated brine. As an alternative treatme nt the dry salt or saturated brine may be supplemented 
with sodium phosphates for a minimum of 30 days. The pH of casings is between 7.5 and 8, with an 
increased pH of 10 for phosphate -supplemented salt or brine.  
(3) Natural sausage casings for human consumpt ion derived from the intestines of animals are considered a 
risk commodity, with the potential to harbour exotic diseases. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has 
prepared the following import risk analyses (IRAs) addressing biosecurity risks associa ted with sausage 
casings:  
a) Sausage Casings from Small Ruminants, Rapid Risk Assessment (Final - 1 July 2010) 
http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/regs/imports/r isk/sausage -casings -eu-ra.pdf  
b) Supplementary Import Risk Analysis: Sausage Casings of Bovine and Porcine Origin (Final - March   
2015) http://fcs.maf.govt.nz/webtop/drl/objectId/0901 01b380dd9421  
(4) MPI ha s develop ed a generic Import Health Standard (IHS) for Sausage Casings for Human Consumption 
from All Countries  based on these analyses.  
(5) In accordance with MPI processes, the IHS contains generic import requirements. These requirements 
manage the biosecurity risk of importing sausage casings from all countries. The generic IHS serves as 
the basis for country -to-country (bilateral) negotiations of country -specific veterinary certificates. A 
guidance document will be issued by MPI and this  will provide commodity specific guidance information 
including samples of country specific bilaterally -agreed veterinary certification for trade in sausage casings 
of bovine, porcine, caprine and ovine origin.  
(6) MPI will agree country -specific veterinary c ertificates with the exporting country’s Competent Authority 
once MPI is satisfied with the exporting country’s export systems. Negotiations will take into account the 
verifiable health status of the exporting country, the national systems, legislation and  IHSs in the exporting 
country for regulatory oversight of the sausage casing industry, and the capabilities and preferences of the 
exporting country’s Competent Authority. The assessments will be based on the  Code  Section 3, Quality 
of Veterinary Services . 
3 Objective  
(1) The obje ctive is to effectively manage biosecurity risks associated with the import of sausage casings , 
consistent with New Zealand’s domestic legislation and international obligations.  
4 Options assessment  
(1) Under Article 3.3 of the World Trade Organisation Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures  (the SPS Agreement), risk management measures which provide a level of  
 
2  Risk Management Proposal  Ministry for Primary Industries  protection greater than provided by international standards may be imposed only when they can be 
scientifically justified on the basis of a risk assessment.  
(2) For a detailed analysis of potential hazards and their risks please refer to the risk assessments listed in 
section 2 above, which contain the relevant risk assessme nts and an analys is of management options for 
each risk organism.  
(3) Of the potential hazards  from natural  casings derived from sheep, goats, pigs and cattle , the import risk 
analyses  concluded that disease specific risk management measures could only be justified for classical 
swine fever  virus (CSFV) in porcine casings . 
5 Gene ral requirements for all importations of sausage casings  
(1) The natural casings must be derived from pigs, cattle, sheep and goats  that have passed ante - and post -
mortem inspection according to the Code , Chapter 6.2 (201 4). After cleaning and scraping, the casings 
are stored at room temperature in either dry salt or saturated brine for a minimum of 30 days.  
(2) The casings  are derived fr om the specific location in the following animals:  
a) Pigs: the submucosal layer of the entire intestinal tract . 
b) Cattle: all intestinal layers of the entire intestinal tract with the exception of the ileum.  
c) Sheep: the submucosal layer of the small intestines . 
d) Goats: the submucosal layer of the small intestines . 
(3) Sausage casings must be subject to a number of cleaning steps that remove unwanted gut contents . 
Tissue layers  are removed from all casings except those from cattle .  
(4) After cleaning and scraping, the ca sings must be stored at room temperature unless otherwise specified, 
in either salt or saturated brine for a minimum of 30 days.  
6 Considerations for Specific Requirements for the Identified 
Risk Organism  
 
  Specific requirements for identified risk organisms are located in Part 2 of the IHS.  
(1) Risk management requirements specified in Part 2 of the IHS are presented as one or more of the 
following:  
a) Country, zone or compartment freedom and residency requirements.  
b) Country, zone or compartment status and residency requirements.  
c) Treatment options.  
(2) Option s presented are considered to effectively manage the risk and may be included in the IHS.  
(3) Where specific Articles of the Code  have been referred to in the IRA the IHS may not state these, as 
Article numbers may change with each Code  review. The Code  is legally incorporated by reference in the 
IHS. The guidance document will tabulate the specific Articles from the Code  and the OIE Man ual of 
Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals  (The Manual ) when required.  
(4) Compartment freedom requirements for herd freedom from CSF are specific to that particular disease  in 
swine . Compartments are only approved after MPI assessment of submissions according to requirements 
specified in the IHS.  
7 Recommendations for  the Identified Risk Organism  
7.1 CLASSICAL SWINE FEVE R VIRUS  (CSFV) 
7.1.1 Options presented in the IRA: Supplementary Import Risk Analysis: Sausage Casings of 
Bovine and Porcine Origin  
  
Ministry for Primary Industries   Risk Management Proposal   3 The CSF risk status of the pig population of a country,  zone  or compartment  should be determined on the basis of 
the criteria  outlined in the Code  chapter for Infection with Classical Swine Fever Virus , General criteria for the 
determination of the CSF status of a country, zone or compartment  (Chapter 15.2, Article 15.2.2 ). 
 
Option 1  
Casings derived from pigs could be imported  only from countries, zones or compartments recognised by New 
Zealand as free from CSF.  
 
Option 2  
For the inactivation of CSFV in casings of pigs, the following procedures could be used: salting for at least 30 
days either with phosphate supplemented dry salt or saturated brine (Aw< 0.80) containing 86.5% NaCl, 10.7% 
Na2HPO 4 and 2.8% Na 3PO 4 (weight/weight/weight), and kept at a temperature of greater than 20°C during this 
entire period.  
 
7.1.2  Discussion  
 
Eradication of CSF in New Zealand occurred after outbrea ks were discovered in 1930 and 1953. Since that time, 
New Zealand has not had a case of CSF. 
 
The OIE now includes CFSV as a listed disease . Applications for official disease -free status are being evaluated 
over the period May 2014 to May 2015. Requirements for CSF-free status of a country, zone or compartment 
have been outlined in t he Code .  
 
7.1.3  Recommendation  
(1) Natural s ausage casings derived from cattle, sheep and goats are not subjected to risk management 
measures for CSFV. 
(2) Natural s ausage casings derived from pigs may be imported provided that they have been:  
a) Derived from animals c ontinuously resident in countries, zones or compartments recognised to be 
free from CSF for the 12 months prior to slaughter  according to the Code  recommendation s for 
considering a country of zone to be CSF free ; or 
b) Salted  for at least 30 days with  phospha te supplemented dry salt or saturated brine (Aw< 0.80) 
containing 86.5% NaCl, 10.7% Na 2HPO 4 and 2.8% Na 3PO 4 (weight/weight/weight) and  kept at a 
temperature of greater than 20°C during this entire period.