Conditions for importation of meat products from Brazil

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1. Meat inspection systems approved
2. Types of meat products accepted for import (based on animal health restrictions)
3. Additional certification statements/attestations required on the Official Meat Inspection Certificate (OMIC)
4. Additional certificates (documents) required
5. Establishments eligible for export to Canada

1. Meat inspection systems approved

1.1 Bovine: slaughter, cutting, deboning and edible meat by products, natural salted animal intestinal casings

1.2 Poultry: slaughter, cutting, deboning and edible meat by products

1.3 Swine: slaughter, cutting, deboning and edible meat by products

1.4 Processing: comminuting, formulating, curing, cooking and canning of meat of approved species

2. Types of meat products accepted for import (based on animal health restrictions)

2.1 Fresh meat and raw processed meat products (chilled or frozen) including boneless cuts, meat by-products, natural salted animal intestinal casings

2.1.1 Meat and meat products derived from bovine of Brazilian origin boneless only – see sections 3.1, 3.3, 4.2 and 4.4 for additional certification attestations and documents required.

2.1.1.1 Natural salted casings derived from bovine of Brazilian origin – see sections 3.2 and 4.4 for additional certification attestations and documents required.

2.1.2 Poultry – see sections 3.8, 4.1 and 4.4 for additional certification statements and documents required.

2.1.3 Meat and meat products derived from swine – see sections 3.10.1 and 4.3 for additional certification statements and documents required.

2.2 All processed meat products (heat treated and raw), other than shelf stable commercially sterile meat products packaged in hermetically sealed containers (cans and/or retortable pouches), and shelf stable dried soup-mix products, bouillon cubes and meat extracts

2.2.1 Beef – frozen, boneless beef cooked in tubes – see sections 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3, 3.4 and 4.4 for additional certification statements required.

2.2.2 Beef-natural salted casings – see sections 3.2 and 4.4 for additional certification statements required.

2.2.3 Beef jerky – see sections 3.7, 4.2 and 4.4 for additional certification statements and documents required.

2.2.4 Poultry – see sections 3.8, 4.1 and 4.4 for additional certification statements and documents required.

2.2.5 Swine – see sections 3.10.1, 3.10.2 and 4.3 for additional certification statements and documents required.

2.3 Shelf stable commercially sterile meat products packaged in hermetically sealed containers (cans or retortable pouches), and shelf stable dried soup mixes, bouillon cubes and meat extracts

2.3.1 Beef – see sections 3.6 and 4.4 for additional certification statements required.

2.3.2 Poultry – see sections 3.9, and 4.4 for additional certification statements required.

2.3.3 Swine – see section 3.10.2 for additional certification statements required.

3. Additional certification statements/attestations required on the OMIC

3.1 For deboned fresh (chilled or frozen) raw meat and meat product derived from bovine of Brazilian origin identified in section 2.1 except natural salted casings

"I hereby certify that the meat and/or meat products:

3.1.1 Were derived from bovine which:

were born, raised and slaughtered in Brazil;

have remained in Brazil , where official controls are in operation; and where there has been no outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), nor evidence of FMD virus infection within the last 12 months;

have been vaccinated against FMD at least twice, with the last vaccination not more than 12 months and not less than 1 month prior to slaughter, except for cattle originating from the State of Santa Catarina;

did not come from holdings that have been placed under official veterinary controls with regards to any notifiable or reportable disease of bovine animals;

were resident on the same farm in Brazil for at least 30 days prior to being shipped for slaughter; and FMD has not occurred within a 10 kilometer radius of the farm premises during that period;

have been transported in a vehicle which was cleansed and disinfected before the cattle were loaded, directly from the establishment of origin to the approved abattoir without coming into contact with other animals of a lesser zoo-sanitary status;

have been subjected to ante mortem inspection within 24 hours before slaughter, followed by post-mortem inspection for FMD including a thorough examination of the 4 feet and mouth of every animal with favorable results;

were slaughtered in an approved slaughter house, officially designated for export, and in which FMD has not been detected during the period between the last disinfection carried out before slaughter and the shipment for export;

were not subjected to a stunning process, prior to slaughter, with a device injecting compressed air or gas into the cranial cavity, or to a pithing process involving laceration, after stunning 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;

were subjected to and passed ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections.

3.1.1.1 Were prepared from deboned carcasses from which all visually identifiable lymphatic nodes have been removed and represent carcass meat for human consumption which do not include any meat or by-products of the head, feet, diaphragmatic muscle and viscera.

which, prior to deboning, have been submitted to maturation at a temperature above +2°C for a minimum period of 24 hours following slaughter and in which the pH value was below 6.0, when tested electronically, in the middle of both the longissimus dorsi.

prepared in a manner to avoid contamination with tissues listed in Article 11.4.14 of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH; founded as Office International des Épizooties (OIE)) Terrestrial Animal Health Code.

Brazil complies with conditions of Article 11.4.3 of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Terrestrial Animal Health Code"

3.1.2 Every precaution was taken to prevent any direct or indirect contact during the slaughter, handling, processing and packaging of the meat products, with any animal product or by-product derived from animals of a lesser zoosanitary status.

3.1.3 All raw beef meat products must meet Canadian requirements for water retention in edible raw red meat products.

3.2 For bovine natural salted intestinal casings of Brazilian origin

"I hereby certify that the natural intestinal casings:

3.2.1 Were derived from bovine which:

were born, raised and slaughtered in Brazil and were not subjected to a stunning process, prior to slaughter, with a device injecting compressed air or gas into the cranial cavity, or to a pithing process involving laceration, after stunning 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;

Brazil complies with conditions of Article 11.4.3 of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Terrestrial Animal Health Code."

3.2.2 For natural salted intestinal bovine casings originating from the state of Santa Catarina:

3.2.2.1 The natural salted intestinal bovine casings originate from animals born and raised in Santa Catarina, and were not vaccinated for Foot and Mouth Disease;

and

3.2.2.2 The animals from which the casings originate received and passed ante- and post-mortem inspections and did not show clinical signs of Foot and Mouth Disease.

3.2.3 For natural salted intestinal bovine casings originating from Brazilian states other than Santa Catarina:

3.2.3.1 the bovine casings have been salted for at least 30 days with a phosphate supplemented dry salt containing 86.5% NaCl, 10.7% Na₂HPO₄ and 2.8% Na₃PO₄ (weight/weight/weight), and kept at a temperature of greater than 12°C during this entire period;

3.2.3.2 Every precaution was taken to prevent any direct or indirect contact during the slaughter, handling, processing and packaging of the meat products, with any animal product or by-product derived from animals of a lesser zoosanitary status.

3.3 For all boneless processed meat products derived from bovine of Brazilian origin, other than shelf stable commercially sterile meat products packaged in hermetically sealed containers (cans and/or retortable pouches) and shelf stable dried soup-mix products, bouillon cubes, meat extract

"I hereby certify that the meat products:

3.3.1 Were derived from bovine which:

were born, raised and slaughtered in Brazil;

have remained in Brazil where official controls are in operation; and where there has been no outbreak of FMD nor evidence of FMD virus infection within the last 12 months;

have been vaccinated against FMD at least twice, with the last vaccination no more than 12 months and not less than 1 month prior to slaughter, except for cattle originating from the State of Santa Catarina;

did not come from holdings that have been placed under official veterinary controls with regards to any notifiable or reportable disease of bovine animals;

were resident on the same farm in Brazil for at least 30 days prior to being shipped for slaughter; and FMD has not occurred within a 10 kilometer radius of the farm premises during that period;

have been transported in a vehicle which was cleaned and disinfected before the cattle were loaded, directly from the establishment of origin to the approved abattoir without coming into contact with other animals of a lesser zoosanitary status;

have been subjected to ante mortem inspection within 24 hours before slaughter, followed by post-mortem inspection for FMD including a thorough examination of the 4 feet and mouth of every animal with favourable results;

were slaughtered in an approved slaughter house, officially designated for export, and in which FMD has not been detected during the period between the last disinfection carried out before slaughter and the shipment for export;

were not subjected to a stunning process, prior to slaughter, with a device injecting compressed air or gas into the cranial cavity, or to a pithing process involving laceration, after stunning 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.

3.3.2 Were prepared from deboned carcasses:

from which all visually identifiable lymphatic nodes have been removed and represents carcass meat for human consumption which do not include any meat or by-products of the head, feet, diaphragmatic muscle and viscera;

which, prior to deboning, have been submitted to maturation at a temperature above +2°C for a minimum period of 24 hours following slaughter and in which the pH value was below 6.0 when tested electronically in the middle of both the longissimus dorsi;

prepared in a manner to avoid contamination with tissues listed in Article 11.4.14 of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Terrestrial Animal Health Code;

3.3.3 Every precaution was taken to prevent any direct or indirect contact during the slaughter, handling, processing and packaging of the meat products, with any animal product or by-product derived from animals of a lesser zoosanitary status."

3.4 For frozen, cooked, tubed, boneless meat products derived from bovine of Brazilian origin, when they cannot satisfy conditions specified under section 3.3

"I hereby certify that the meat products:

3.4.1 The beef meat covered by this certificate contains only skeletal muscle tissue, excluding cardiac muscle, which was deboned and defatted before cooking and subsequently thoroughly cooked in tubes;

3.4.2 The tubed, boneless meat product derived from bovine of Brazilian origin covered by this certificate was heat treated so that an internal core temperature of 70°C or greater was maintained for a minimum of 30 min under conditions approved by the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA) to prevent any contact with uncooked products;

3.4.3 All cooking tubes were identified with the name, address and establishment number of approved plant as well as lot and cooking date;

3.4.4 Every precaution was taken to prevent any direct or indirect contact during the slaughter, handling, processing and packaging of the meat products, with any animal product or by-product derived from animals of a lesser zoosanitary status."

3.5 For meat and meat products derived from bovine considered as precursor material for the preparation of finished raw ground meat including, but not limited to, trim, bench trim (trim derived from primal and sub-primal cuts), head meat, cheek meat, tongue roots, weasand meat, hearts and finely textured beef

"I hereby certify that:

3.5.1 Meet the requirements under 3.3 above;

3.5.2 The meat and/or meat products derived from bovine and covered by this certificate are considered as precursor material for the preparation of finished raw ground meat, and were tested for the presence of E. coli O157:H7/NM according to procedures described in Control Measures for Escherichia coli O157:H7/NM in Raw Beef Products^Footnote 1;

3.5.3 Were tested in a laboratory accredited according to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17025 standards (for example, a laboratory that is formally recognized by an accreditation body that is a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) as conforming to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2005);

3.5.4 The test results were recorded on a certificate of analysis indicating that E. coli O157:H7/NM was not detected;

3.5.5 The said certificate of analysis is issued in 1 of Canada's official languages (English or French) and attached to this certificate";

3.5.6 For raw ground meat derived from bovine:

"I hereby certify that:

3.5.6.1 The meat and/or meat products derived from bovine used for the preparation of raw ground meat covered by this certificate were tested for the presence of E. coli O157:H7/NM according to procedures described in Control Measures for Escherichia coli O157:H7/NM in Raw Beef Products;

3.5.6.2 Were tested in a laboratory accredited according to ISO 17025 standards (for example, a laboratory that is formally recognized by an accreditation body that is a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) as conforming to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2005);

3.5.6.3 The test results were recorded on a certificate of analysis indicating that E. coli O157:H7/NM was not detected;

3.5.6.4 The said certificate of analysis will be kept on file in the processing establishment for a minimum of 2 years period from the date of this certificate."

3.6 For shelf stable commercially sterile meat products packaged in hermetically sealed containers (cans or retortable pouches) and shelf stable dried soup-mix products, bouillon cubes, meat extract and dehydrated beef stock derived from bovine of Brazilian origin

The meat products were derived from bovines:

3.6.1 That were born and raised in Brazil;

3.6.2 Which were not subjected to a stunning process, prior to slaughter, with a device injecting compressed air or gas into the cranial cavity, or to a pithing process involving laceration, after stunning 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;

3.6.3 Were subjected to a heat treatment process achieving a minimum F0 value of 3; Or

Have been heated so that an internal core temperature of 70°C or greater was maintained for a minimum of 30 minutes;

3.6.4 Brazil complies with conditions of Article 11.4.3 of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Terrestrial Animal Health Code;

3.6.5 Every precaution was taken to prevent any direct or indirect contact during the slaughter, handling, processing and packaging of the meat products, with any animal product or by-product derived from animals of a lesser zoo-sanitary status."

3.7 For beef jerky

"I hereby certify that:

The beef product covered by this certificate has been derived from animals that:

3.7.1 Were born and raised in Brazil which were not subjected to a stunning process, prior to slaughter, with a device injecting compressed air or gas into the cranial cavity, or to a pithing process involving laceration, after stunning 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;

3.7.2 Were subjected to and passed ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections;

3.7.3 Has been deboned, salted and subsequently cooked in order to reach a minimum internal temperature of 71°C for at least 1 hour;

3.7.4 Is completely dried to the extent that the water-protein ratio in the wettest portion of the product does not exceed 2.25:1 and may be stored and handled without refrigeration;

3.7.5 Every precaution was taken to prevent any direct or indirect contact during the processing and packaging of the beef meat product, with any animal product or by-product derived from animals of a lesser zoosanitary status."

3.8 For poultry (broiler chickens, broiler turkeys, broiler chickens breeding hens, and broiler turkeys breeding hens only)

3.8.1 For all poultry meat and meat products other than commercially sterile poultry meat products packaged in hermetically sealed containers (cans or retortable pouches), shelf stable dried soup mixes, bouillon cubes and meat extract

"I hereby certify that:

3.8.1.1 The poultry meat products are derived from broiler chickens and/or broiler turkeys or broiler chicken breeding hens and/or broiler turkey breeding hens (delete as appropriate) which

3.8.1.2 Were hatched, raised, slaughtered and processed in a commercial vertically integrated system operating under the Brazilian National Program of Poultry Health in the States of Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Goiás, Mato Grosso or the Federal District of Brazil;

3.8.1.3 Come from holdings which have not been placed under animal health restrictions in connection with any disease for which poultry is susceptible, and around which, within a radius of 10 km, including where appropriate the territory of a neighbouring country, there have been no outbreaks of Newcastle disease for at least 21 days;

3.8.1.4 Have been subjected to ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections for Newcastle disease with favourable results;

3.8.1.5 In the case of broiler chicken meat or broiler turkey meat, have not been vaccinated against Newcastle disease (delete as appropriate);

3.8.1.6 Have not been slaughtered in the context of any animal health scheme for the control or eradication of poultry diseases;

3.8.1.7 Have not been exposed to birds which were not part of the aforementioned commercial vertically integrated systems and to birds infected with Newcastle disease;

3.8.1.8 The poultry meat products:

have not been exposed at any time during slaughter, cutting, processing, storage or transport to any animal product or by-product derived from animals of a lesser zoosanitary status;

3.8.1.9 All raw poultry meat products must meet Canadian requirements for water retention in edible raw poultry meat products.

3.9 For commercially sterile poultry meat products packaged in hermetically sealed containers (cans or retortable pouches), shelf stable dried soup mixes, bouillon cubes and meat extract and other heat treated poultry meat products

3.9.1 The poultry meat products were subjected to a heat treatment process achieving a minimum F0 value of 3, or

The poultry meat products were subjected to a heat treatment compliant with Articles 10.4.24 and 10.9.21 of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) Terrestrial Code.

3.9.2 The raw material for the final product was sourced from slaughter houses where a pathogen reduction control program has been implemented to meet Canada's Poultry Pathogen Reduction Program.

3.10 For swine meat

3.10.1 For raw meat, raw meat products and raw processed meat products

The meat and/or meat products are derived from swine which:

3.10.1.1 Were born, raised, and slaughtered in a commercial vertically integrated production system in the state of Santa Catarina, which is recognized by Canada as free of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Classical Swine Fever (CSF), African Swine Fever (ASF), and Swine Vesicular Disease (SVD):

3.10.1.2 Have not been in contact with any swine that originated outside the state of Santa Catarina for a minimum of 90 days before slaughter.

3.10.1.3 Were slaughtered in an establishment that does not slaughter any swine transported direct to slaughter from outside the state of Santa Catarina.

All fresh / chilled meat products and raw processed meat products meet Canadian requirements for water retention in edible raw red meat products

3.10.2 For cooked meat products

3.10.2.1 For all meat and meat products derived from swine of Brazilian origin, other than shelf stable, commercially sterile pork meat products, packaged in hermetically sealed containers (cans or retortable pouches) and shelf stable dried soup mix products, bouillon cubes and meat extracts.

3.10.2.2 The meat and/or meat products:

Were subjected to a heat treatment so that an internal core temperature of 70°C or greater was maintained for a minimum of 30 minutes.

3.10.2.3 Every precaution was taken to prevent direct or indirect contact during the slaughter, processing and packaging of the pork meat with any animal product or by-product derived from animals of a lesser zoosanitary status.

3.10.3 For shelf stable commercially sterile meat products packaged in hermetically sealed containers (cans or retortable pouches) and shelf stable dried soup-mix products, bouillon cubes, meat extract derived from swine of Brazilian origin

The meat and/or meat products:

were subjected to a heat treatment process achieving a minimum F0 value of 3; or

were subjected to a heat treatment so that an internal core temperature of 70°C or greater was maintained for a minimum of 30 minutes.

3.10.3.1 Every precaution was taken to prevent direct or indirect contact during the slaughter, processing and packaging of the pork meat with any animal product or by-product derived from animals of a lesser zoosanitary status.

4. Additional certificates (documents) required

4.1 For all poultry meat and meat products other than commercially sterile poultry meat products packaged in hermetically sealed containers (cans or retortable pouches), shelf stable dried soup mixes, bouillon cubes and meat extract:

Animal Health Import Permit

4.2 For fresh/frozen deboned (boneless) beef and beef products and beef jerky:

Animal Health Import Permit

4.3 For fresh/frozen meat and meat products of swine:

Animal Health Import Permit

4.4 For bovine and poultry meat and meat products:

"I hereby certify that:

the meat products covered by this certificate have been derived from animals that were humanely rendered unconscious in a reversible or irreversible manner prior to being bled, or were slaughtered in accordance with Judaic or Islamic ritual."

5. Establishments eligible for export to Canada

Refer to the List of foreign countries establishments eligible to export meat products to Canada