. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/CUB/12 
24 February 2006 
 (06-0816) 
Committee on Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures Original:   Spanish 
 
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  REPUBLIC OF CUBA  
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Agriculture  
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):  Special  cuts of bovine meat a nd bovine meat products.  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  Canada  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document :  Requisitos sanitarios-
veterinarios de la República de Cuba para la importación de carne bovina y sus derivados 
de origen de Canadá  (Veterinary health requirements of the Republic of Cuba for imports 
of bovine meat and bovine meat products from Canada) (4 pages, in Spanish). 
6. Description of content:  The animals from which the meat is derived must come from 
farms and herds in which no positive cases of  Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) 
have been detected and must not be the proge ny, birth cohorts or feed cohorts of animals 
affected by BSE.  Canada must have sanitary  regulations in force that prohibit the feeding 
of ruminant meat and bone meal to ruminants. During slaughter, the animals must not have been stunned by means of gas in jected into the cranial cavity or by laceration of central 
nervous tissue by means of an elongated rod-sh aped instrument introduced into the cranial 
cavity. The establishments where the animals are slaughtered and their herds of origin must 
be subject to a national surveillance program  in accordance with OIE guidelines for the 
control and eradication of BSE.  The animals from which the meat is derived must be under 
30 months old or, if they are aged 30 months or older, the specified risk materials (SRMs) must be removed. The meat (including min ced meat or sausage filling) must not contain 
SRMs and every precaution must have been take n during slaughter to ensure that the meat 
did not come into contact with such materials,  including the brain, eyes, trigeminal ganglia, 
spinal cord, tonsils and distal ileum. If mech anically separated meat was used in the 
manufacture of the meat products, it must be free,  not only of SRMs, but of cranial or spinal 
tissue from animals over 30 months old. 
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        G/SPS/N/CUB/12 
Page 2  
 
  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:        
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Requisitos 
sanitarios-veterinarios de la República de C uba para la importación de carne bovina y sus 
derivados de origen de Canadá  (Veterinary health requirements of the Republic of Cuba for 
imports of bovine meat and bovine meat pr oducts from Canada) (4 pages, in Spanish). 
Chapter 11 – Section 11.7.3 – Cuba. Annex C. Meat Hygiene Manual of Procedures, 
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) (in English, 2 pages). 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  Not applicable  
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  Not applicable  
12. Final date for comments:  Not applicable  
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [    ] National notification 
authority, [    ] National enquiry point, or add ress, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:        
13. Texts available from:  [  X ] National notification authority, [  X ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
Ministerio de Comercio Exterior,  
Dirección de Organismos Internacionales,  Calle Infanta N° 16 esquina 23,  
Ciudad de la Habana, Municipio Plaza de la Revolución, República de Cuba.   
Fax:      (537) 542266  E-mail:  eva.quintana@mincex.cu 
 
Instituto de Medicina Veterinaria Dirección Nacional, Calle 12 N° 355 entre 15 y 17,  Ciudad Habana, Municipio Plaza de la Revolución, República de Cuba.   
Fax:      (537) 8303537  E-mail:  dnimv@infomed.sld.cu
, rbescofet2002@hotmail.com , acere2@yahoo.es