. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/CAN/275 
9 October 2006 
 (06-4839) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  CANADA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)  
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):   Small ruminants (sheep and goats and their exotic relatives) and their 
products:  HS codes 0104 (sheep and goats, li ve), 0204 (meat of sheep or goats, fresh, 
chilled or frozen), 0206* (ed offal), 0511* (animal products nesoi, dead animals, inedible, 
etc.), 1502* (fats, bovine, sheep or goat, raw or rendered), 1601* (sausages), 1602* 
(prepared or preserved meat, m eat offal and blood nesoi). 
*HS categories marked with an asterisk include products beyond the scope of this notification.  
Within these categories, only products of small ru minant origin are affected by this notification.  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  All 
trading partners, including Australia, Austria,  the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, 
the United Kingdom and the United States.  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Proposed Import 
Conditions for Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) in Small Ruminants  
(Available in English and French, 4 pages).  
6. Description of content:  This notification serves to advise Members that the Canadian 
Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has posted a ne w small ruminant policy on its website for 
consultation. As the scientific understa nding of the transmissible spongiform 
encephalopathies (TSEs) has evolved, signifi cant differences in the pathogenesis and 
associated risks of these diseases within the diffe rent species have been clarified.  In order 
to appropriately address these differences, Canada's import policies, conditions and 
procedures pertaining to bovines, small ruminants and cervids are being separated. 
Canada's draft revised TSE import policy fo r small ruminants can be summarized into 
4 major categories of importations: 
1. Importation from a country recognized free or negligible risk for TSEs in small 
ruminants;  
2. Importation from a premises free from TSEs in small ruminants;  
3. Animals that will be slaughtered prior to an age where they would pose a significant 
disease risk;  and 
4. Products harvested from animals in the above described categories. G/SPS/N/CAN/275 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale: [ X ] food safety,  [ X ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests   
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [ X ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [   ] None 
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:  OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code, 
Chapter 2.3.13 Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; 2.4.8 Scrapie.  
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Consultation Paper: 
Revising the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's TSE import policy for small ruminants 
and their products  (available in English and French) 
Consultation posted to CFIA Web site:  29 September 2006 
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/an ima/heasan/import/rumiconse.shtml  (English) 
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/francais/anima/heasan/import/rumiconsf.shtml  (French) 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  On or around 5 February 2007  
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  On or around 5 February 2007  
12. Final date for comments:  5 December 2006  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:   
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notification authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
The electronic version of the draft policy can be downloaded at: 
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/ anima/heasan/import/rumiconde.shtml  (English)  
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/francais/anima/heasan/import/rumicondf.shtml (French)