Re-inspection of Meat at
the Canada-US Border
James M. Laws, P.Ag.
Executive Director
Canadian Meat Council
Transportation Border Working Group Meeting
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada November 2, 2011
Canadian Meat Council
• National industry trade association
representing federally-inspected meat
processors of beef, pork, poultry, veal and
lamb since 1919.
• www.cmc-cvc.com
Canada’s Meat Industry
• Total revenue from goods manufactured $21.4 billion (number one in food industry)
• Total value of meat exports - $3.8 billion
• Over 1,100 establishments
• Over 67,500 employees
• Largest food industry and the 11th largest
manufacturing industry behind motor vehicles,
petroleum products and sawmill products
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Pork Statistics 2010
• Canadian federally inspected hog slaughter –
20.3 million head
• Canada’s pork production – 1.93 million
tonnes
• Canada’s pork exports – 1.1 million tonnes
• Export value total– $2.77 billion,
• Export value to the USA $951 million
• Canada’s pork imports- 185,000 tonnes
• Import value- $700 million mostly from USA
• Top Canadian pork export markets – USA,
Japan, Russia, Australia, Mexico
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Beef Statistics 2010
• Canadian federally inspected beef slaughter – 3.2
million head
• Canada’s beef production – 1.17 million tonnes
• Canada’s beef exports – 408 thousand tonnes
• Export value – $1.42 billion
• Export value to USA $ 1.03 billion
• Canada’s beef imports- 179,000 tonnes
• Import value- $902 million, $733 million from USA
• Top Canadian beef export markets – USA, Mexico,
Japan
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Why is the Canadian Meat Council Speaking
Here Today?
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Prime Minister Harper and
President Obama Feb 4, 2011
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Re-inspection of meat at the Canada-U.S.
border should be eliminated
• Meat from the United States that is exported to Canada
is already inspected by USDA in accordance with
Canadian Food Inspection Agency requirements and the
meat is marked with “US Inspected and Passed by
Department of Agriculture” legend.
Re-inspection of meat at the Canada-U.S.
border should be eliminated
• Canadian meat exported to the U.S. is similarly inspected
by the CFIA to the food safety and animal health
standards of the U.S. and marked with the Meat
Inspection Legend.
Canadian Federally Inspected Plants
 A Canadian Food Inspection
Agency veterinarian and
inspection staff are present at all
times during slaughter.
 A Canadian Food Inspection
Agency inspection staff is
present in processing plants.
 Industry employs full time
quality control managers.
 Every animal is inspected.
Re-inspection of meat at the Canada-U.S.
border should be eliminated
• The border inspections of Canadian and American meat
are merely “re-inspections” of USDA and CFIA inspected
meat. Re-inspecting meat in its final package in a box in
a truck is not nearly as worthwhile as inspecting meat
while it is being processed in the facility.
Re-inspection of meat at the Canada-U.S.
border should be eliminated
• Performing random inspections of trucks for
“contraband” or other illegal cargo is to be
expected- for all trucks – not just meat trucks.
• Stopping each and every meat truck at the
border is not necessary- especially when the
shipment comes from a supplier who is C-TPAT
certified.
• “We just got our SQF final audit (went very well)
and our custom commercial invoices are already
going electronically to FSIS. “
Re-inspection of meat at the Canada-U.S.
border should be eliminated
• Redirecting Canadian meat trucks to U.S.
“inspection centres” also wastes time and fuel
and causes extra wear and tear on vehicles
through more mileage.
• “Every driver loses 2-4 hours of driving time
having to report to the I-house. If it is busy they
wait for the inspector to get free. Losing that
road time means that, once the driver hits his 1112 hours behind the wheel, paid rest time applies
for at least 10 more hours. Cost per hour is
roughly $100.00. “
SUPPLY CHAIN DISRUPTION
AND LOSS OF SHELF LIFE
If products are sampled at the Inspection
House a supplier could lose 3-10 days of a
typical 30 day shelf life.
Fresh meats that get delayed can be refused
by the customer e.g. some customers in the
Southern USA has very tight quality control
criteria and will refuse products that don't
meet their very tight production specs for
deli products.
Re-inspection of meat at the Canada-U.S.
border should be eliminated
• Both Canada and the U.S. currently approve the
establishments that are eligible to export to the
other country. Periodic audits of these approved
establishments are performed, and export eligibility
can be revoked at any time should the establishment
not satisfy the other country’s standards.
• 129 Federally registered establishments in Canada
are approved facilities for inspection of imported
meat products from the United States of America.
Of those 129 establishments 54 are meat processing
establishments and 75 are cold storage facilities.
Canada’s System of Meat
Testing is Equivalent to US
Canada’s System of Meat
Testing is Equivalent to US
Canada’s Listeria mono Control
in Meat is Equivalent to US
Canada’s Meat Inspection Act
Canada’s Meat Inspection
Regulations
Canada’s Meat Inspection
Regulations
Canada’s Meat Inspection
Regulations
• Federal Meat Inspection Act
Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), FSIS provides
inspection for all meat products sold in interstate commerce,
and reinspects imported products to ensure that they meet
U.S. food safety standards.
• In the statute, the relevant section is 21 U.S.C. 620
• Federal Meat Inspection Act
• Title 21 - Food and Drugs
• Chapter 12 - Meat Inspection
• SUBCHAPTER I - INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS;
ADULTERATION AND MISBRANDING
§620. Imports.
• No carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat or meat food products of
cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or other equines which
are capable of use as human food, shall be imported into the United
States if such articles are adulterated or misbranded and unless they
comply with all the inspection, building, construction standards, and
all other provisions of this chapter and regulations issued
thereunder applicable to such articles in commerce within the
United States. No such carcasses, parts of carcasses, meat or meat
food products shall be imported into the United States unless the
livestock from which they were produced was slaughtered and
handled in connection with slaughter in accordance with the Act of
August 27, 1958 (72 Stat. 862; 7 U.S.C. 1901-1906). All such
imported articles shall, upon entry into the United States, be
deemed and treated as domestic articles subject to the other
provisions of this chapter and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act (21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.): Provided, That they shall be marked and
labeled as required by such regulations for imported articles:
Provided further, That nothing in this section shall apply to any
individual who purchases meat or meat products outside the United
States for his own consumption except that the total amount of such
meat or meat products shall not exceed fifty pounds.
(f) Inspection and other standards; applicability,
enforcement, etc.; certifications
• Notwithstanding any other provision of law, all carcasses, parts of carcasses,
meat, and meat food products of cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses, mules, or
other equines, capable of use as human food, offered for importation into the
United States shall be subject to the inspection, sanitary, quality, species
verification, and residue standards applied to products produced in the United
States. Any such imported meat articles that do not meet such standards shall
not be permitted entry in to the United States. The Secretary shall enforce this
provision through (1) the imposition of random inspections for such species
verification and for residues, and (2) random sampling and testing of internal
organs and fat of the carcasses for residues at the point of slaughter by the
exporting country in accordance with methods approved by the Secretary. Each
foreign country from which such meat articles are offered for importation into
the United States shall obtain a certification issued by the Secretary stating that
the country maintains a program using reliable analytical methods to ensure
compliance with the United States standards for residues in such meat articles.
No such meat article shall be permitted entry into the United States from a
country for which the Secretary has not issued such certification. The Secretary
shall periodically review such certifications and shall revoke any certification if
the Secretary determines that the country involved is not maintaining a program
that uses reliable analytical methods to ensure compliance with United States
standards for residues in such meat articles. The consideration of any application
for a certification under this subsection and the review of any such certification,
by the Secretary, shall include the inspection of individual establishments to
ensure that the inspection program of the foreign country involved is meeting
such United States standards.
WHEREAS the Government of Canada has entered
into a Free Trade Agreement with the Government of
the United States of America in order :
• to strengthen the unique and enduring friendship
between the two countries and their peoples as befitting
great trading partners,
• to strengthen Canada’s national identity while at the
same time protecting vital national characteristics and
qualities,
• to promote productivity, employment, financial stability
and the improvement of living standards,
• to establish a climate of greater predictability for
Canadians to plan and invest with confidence and to
compete more effectively in the United States and global
markets, to build on Canada’s rights and obligations
under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and
other multilateral and bilateral instruments of
cooperation,
FSIS Import Re-inspection
• After an incoming shipment has met U.S.
Customs and Border Protection and APHIS
requirements, the shipment must be
reinspected by FSIS at an approved import
inspection facility.
FSIS import inspectors first check the
documents to assure the shipment is properly
certified by the foreign country. Inspectors
next examine each shipment for general
condition and labeling and then conduct the
inspection assignments.
Canadian Meat Council
Regular Members
Aliments
Trans Gras Inc.
BOUVRY
EXPORTS
ALIMENTS
LUCYPORC
Viandes
Sherrington
Canadian Meat Council
Associate Members