§94.4. Cured or cooked meat from regions where foot-and-mouth disease exists. — Inbound Citations

(3) Except as provided in § 94.4 of this part for cooked or cured meat from regions where foot-and-mouth disease exists.

(a) The meat of ruminants or swine, and other animal products, and ship stores, airplane meals, and baggage containing such meat or animal products originating in any region listed as provided in paragraph (a)(2) of this section may not be imported into the United States unless the requirements in this section, in addition to other applicable requirements of chapter III of this title, are met. However, meat and meat products that meet the requirements of § 94.4 do not have to comply with the requirements of this section. As used in this section, the term “other animal product” means all parts of the carcass of any ruminant or swine, other than meat and articles regulated under part 95 or part 96 of this chapter.

(1) The regions listed under paragraph (a)(2) of this section have been declared free of foot-and-mouth disease by APHIS as provided in § 94.1(a) but supplement their national meat supply by the importation of fresh (chilled or frozen) meat of ruminants or swine from regions that APHIS considers to be affected with foot-and-mouth disease as provided in § 94.1(a); or have a common land border with regions considered to be affected with foot-and-mouth disease; or import ruminants or swine from regions considered to be affected with foot-and-mouth disease under conditions less restrictive than would be acceptable for importation into the United States. Thus, the meat may be commingled with the fresh (chilled or frozen) meat of animals from an affected region, resulting in an undue risk of introducing foot-and-mouth disease into the United States.

(2) A list of regions whose products are regulated under this section is maintained on the APHIS website at https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-and-animal-product-import-information/animal-health-status-of-regions. Copies of the list are also available via postal mail upon request to Regionalization Evaluation Services, Strategy and Policy, Veterinary Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, 4700 River Road, Unit 38, Riverdale, Maryland 20737; [email protected].

(3) APHIS will add a region to the list of those whose products are regulated under this section after conducting an evaluation of the region and determining that one or more of the circumstances described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section exists. APHIS will remove a region from the list upon conducting an evaluation of the region and determining that the circumstances in paragraph (a)(1) of this section no longer exist or upon determining that foot-and-mouth disease exists in the region.

(i) The cooked meat must be accompanied by a certificate issued by an official of the National Government of the region of origin who is authorized to issue the foreign meat inspection certificate required under § 327.4 of this title, stating: “This cooked meat produced for export to the United States meets the requirements of title 9, Code of Federal Regulations, § 94.4(b).” Upon arrival of the cooked meat in the United States, the certificate must be presented to an authorized inspector at the port of arrival.

(ii) The cooking equipment has the capacity to cook all meat pieces in accordance with § 94.4(b)(4) or (b)(5);

(ii) The cooking equipment has the capacity to cook all meat pieces in accordance with § 94.4(b)(4) or (b)(5);

(2) An APHIS representative will conduct an on-site evaluation, and subsequent inspections, as provided in § 94.4(c)(1), to determine whether the following conditions are met:

(i) The facilities used for processing cooked meat in the meat processing establishment are separate from the facilities used for processing raw meat (precooking, boning, preparation, and curing), with only the through-the-wall cooking system through which the meat product is delivered at the end of the cooking cycle connecting them; and there is at all times a positive air flow from the cooked to the raw product side;

(ii) The cooking equipment has the capacity to cook all meat pieces in accordance with § 94.4(b)(4) or (b)(5);

(iii) Workers who process cooked meat are at all times kept separate from workers who process raw meat, and have, for their exclusive use: A separate entrance, dining area, toilets, lavatories with cold and hot water, soap, disinfectants, paper towels, clothes hampers and waste baskets for disposal, and changing rooms stocked with the clean clothing and rubber boots into which all persons must change upon entering the establishment. Workers and all other persons entering the establishment must wash their hands and change into the clean clothing and boots provided in the changing rooms before entering the cooking facilities, and must leave this clothing for laundering and disinfecting before exiting from the establishment, regardless of the amount of time spent inside or away from the establishment;

(iv) Original records identifying the slaughtering facility from which the meat was obtained and the date the meat entered the meat processing establishment, and original certification (including temperature recording charts and graphs), must be kept for all cooked meat by the full-time salaried meat inspection official of the National Government of the exporting region assigned to the establishment, and must be retained for 2 years.