FDA Won't Enforce FSVP Requirements on Live Cattle, Swine and Poultry Imported for Slaughter
The Food and Drug Administration will not enforce Foreign Supplier Verification Program regulations for many live animals imported for consumption as food regulated by the Agriculture Department, it said in a guidance document issued March 21. “We will not expect FSVP importers of live animals that are slaughtered and processed at USDA-inspected establishments subject to USDA-administered HACCP requirements (or state-inspected establishments subject to equivalent requirements) to meet any of the FSVP requirements,” FDA said.
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The policy of enforcement discretion only applies to live animals for which slaughter and processing comes under USDA jurisdiction, including cattle, swine and poultry, FDA said. The enforcement policy is intended to bring FDA’s requirements for live animals in line with requirements for foods derived from these animals. Other live animals not likely to be directed for food use (including animals imported for showing and breeding) are not covered at all by the FSVP regulations, nor are products regulated by USDA at the time of importation, like meat, poultry and egg products.
The slaughter and processing of other live animals, including farmed bison, farmed wild boar and elk, remains under FDA jurisdiction, and importers of any of these animals remain subject to FSVP requirements, FDA said. “An importer of such animals would be subject to FSVP and would need to conduct foreign supplier verification with respect to such animals if the importer determined there were drug residues or other hazards requiring supplier control,” the agency said.
Importers of live animals for food use and imported for slaughter and processing at USDA-regulated establishments or their state equivalents should transmit affirmation of compliance code “FSX” when making entry via ACE, FDA said. “Importers of all other live animals for food use subject to the FSVP regulation should transmit the entity role code ‘FSV,’” FDA said.