Poultry
Effective Sept. 17 the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service imposed the following restrictions on imports of avian commodities from zones PCZ-272, -273, and -274 in Alberta, 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.
Walnuts
The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has issued a direct final rule that stays the regulation governing imports of walnuts to align it with regulations prescribed under the federal marketing order regulating the handling of walnuts grown in California. Specifically, AMS issued in August 2023 a final rule removing grade, quality, size, and inspection requirements from that order.
Imports from Austria
Effective Sept. 8 APHIS lifted restrictions on the importation of certain animal commodities originating from or transiting Austria that had been imposed due to the detection of foot-and-mouth disease near that country’s border with Hungary. These restrictions included (1) a prohibition on imports of live ruminants, camelids, swine, hedgehogs, tenrecs, and their germplasm, (2) a prohibition, with limited exceptions, on unprocessed porcine, ruminant, camelid, hedgehog, and tenrec products and byproducts, and (3) an import permit requirement for imports of processed porcine, ruminant, camelid, hedgehog, and tenrec products and byproducts.
Exports to Singapore
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service reports that, beginning Jan. 12, 2026, all FSIS meat and poultry product export certificates for products exported to Singapore (except casings and egg products) will be generated, issued, and officially maintained in FSIS’ Public Health Information System. All export certificates (FSIS Form 9060-5 series) generated through PHIS will be digitally signed by FSIS and printed on plain paper by industry personnel with PHIS access. These forms must include the PHIS-generated watermark. They will replace all letterhead certificates for meat and poultry exported to Singapore.
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