Exports to Colombia
The Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service reports that in early March the Colombian Institute of Agriculture, which oversees animal and plant quarantine issues under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, began detaining shipments due to importer requests to change certain details on import permits. According to FAS, such modifications are often needed due to changes that occur between the time the permits are requested (often 90 days in advance) and the time the shipment is sent, particularly for large orders that involved several shipments and rapidly changing inventories.
While approval of such modifications had been granted almost automatically by port officials in the past, FAS states, ICA leadership recently advised all port officials to be more strict in reviewing and enforcing the rules related to import permits. As a result, shipments with non-conforming import permits will be rejected, even for minor differences that do not reflect fraud or a food safety concern.
FAS therefore advises anyone shipping products to Colombia to work with their importers and customs brokers to ensure that all details on the import permits are correct and, if not, to ask their importers to amend or request new permits before the products depart the U.S.; otherwise, they risk their products being rejected upon arrival in Colombia. FAS notes that already more than $1.4 million of U.S. meat products have been detained, many of which have been ordered to be reshipped elsewhere.
Poultry Imports
Effective March 4, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has imposed the following restrictions on the importation of poultry and related products from zone PCZ-263 in Nova Scotia, Canada, due to concerns about highly-pathogenic avian influenza.
- Importation of poultry, commercial birds, ratites, avian hatching eggs, unprocessed avian products and byproducts, and certain fresh poultry products is prohibited.
- Importation of processed avian products and byproducts, imported as cargo, must be accompanied by an APHIS import permit and/or government certification confirming that the goods were treated in accordance with APHIS requirements.
- Importation of fresh, unprocessed shell/table eggs and egg products, void of the shell (e.g., liquid eggs and dried egg whites), imported as cargo, is prohibited unless they are consigned from the port of arrival directly to an APHIS-approved breaking and pasteurization facility. An import permit and/or certificate is not required in such cases.
- Fully finished, non-shelf stable and/or non-commercially packaged and labeled food products containing pasteurized egg/egg product ingredients, originating from or transiting all of Canada, must be accompanied by an APHIS import permit.
Separately, APHIS has removed restrictions on imports of poultry and related products originating from or transiting Aichi prefecture in Japan, effective March 18.
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