Canada Gazette

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Solicitor General of Canada, pursuant to section 14 of the Health of Animals Act (see footnote a), hereby make the annexed Certain Ruminants and Their Products Importation Prohibition Regulations.

(a) the skull, brain, trigeminal ganglia, eyes, spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia of animals of the sub-family Bovinae aged 30 months or older; and

(b) the distal ileum and tonsils of animals of the sub-family Bovinae of all ages. (matériel à risque spécifié de boviné)

(a) is imported into Canada for the purpose of feeding and subsequent slaughter not later than 36 weeks after importation; and

(b) is not less than 8 days of age and not more than 14 days of age at the time of its importation into Canada. (veau d'engrais)

"feeder goats" means any neutered male goats imported into Canada for the purpose of feeding and subsequent slaughter, but does not include any neutered male goats that are to be moved to a rodeo or show. (chèvre d'engrais)

"feeder sheep" means any neutered male sheep imported into Canada for the purpose of feeding and subsequent slaughter, but does not include any neutered male sheep that are to be moved to a rodeo or show. (mouton d'engrais)

"meat product" has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Meat Inspection Act. (produit de viande)

(2) Words and expressions used in these Regulations and not defined in the Health of Animals Act or these Regulations have the same meaning as in section 2 of the Health of Animals Regulations.

2. (1) No person shall import into Canada from the United States, during the period beginning on the day on which these Regulations come into force and ending on June 30, 2006, any of the following animals or things:

(a) animals of the sub-family Bovinae or of the species Capra hircus or Ovis aries;

(b) meat products derived from animals of the sub-family Bovinae or from animals of the species Capra hircus or Ovis aries and things containing those meat products;

(d) ingredients, other than manure, derived from ruminants to be used in fertilizer, and fertilizer containing those ingredients; and

(e) Bovinae specified risk material and things containing or derived from Bovinae specified risk material.

(a) animals of the species Capra hircus or Ovis aries under 12 months of age, or cattle, that are imported for immediate slaughter and that are subject to the requirements of section 5 of Part III of the import reference document as defined in section 10 of the Health of Animals Regulations;

(b) animals, and things derived from them, that are imported for medical use, scientific research or zoological collections;

(e) cattle under 30 months of age that are imported into Canada under a permit issued under section 160 of the Health of Animals Regulations for the purpose of feeding for slaughter;

(g) bucks, bulls and rams that are destined for animal semen production centres;

(h) a feeder goat or feeder sheep that is under 12 months of age and that is subject to the requirements of section 19 of Part III of the import reference document as defined in section 10 of the Health of Animals Regulations;

(i) an animal or thing in respect of which paragraph 51(b) of the Health of Animals Regulations applies that is imported into Canada under a permit issued under section 160 of those Regulations;

(j) meat products, imported in accordance with subsection 9(1) of the Meat Inspection Act, of animals of the sub-family Bovinae under 30 months of age from which the distal ileum and tonsils have been removed;

(k) beef liver imported in accordance with subsection 9(1) of the Meat Inspection Act;

(l) meat products, imported in accordance with subsection 9(1) of the Meat Inspection Act, of animals of the species Capra hircus or Ovis aries under 12 months of age;

(m) products of a rendering plant imported into Canada under a permit issued under section 160 of the Health of Animals Regulations;

(n) meat products that originated in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, New Zealand or Uruguay and that were processed in the United States;

(o) meat products that originated in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand or Uruguay and that are in transit through the United States;

(p) meat products to be transported to a community in the United States if the only practical transportation route for the meat products is either a land or a water route through Canada, taking into account the location of the community and the time required to transport them;

(q) meat products to be transported non-stop in Canada and to be delivered to a cruise ship for use as ships' stores;

(s) a food containing a meat product that is of insignificant quantity having regard to the nature of the food and the nature of the meat product in the food;

(t) meat products to be used for personal consumption if the total weight of the meat products is 5 kg or less;

(v) hides or skins that do not come from the head of an animal and derivatives of those hides or skins;

(x) things produced by subjecting bones and tissues, other than Bovinae specified risk material, to rigorous processes of extraction and purification;

(y) finished pet chews, such as dried processed ears, pizzles, hooves or tendons, that do not contain, and are not derived from, Bovinae specified risk material;

(z) finished pet chews, such as dried processed ears, pizzles, hooves or tendons, that do not contain, and are not derived from, any part of the vertebral column of animals of the sub-family Bovinae;

(z.1) commercially prepared pet food that does not contain ingredients derived from animals of the sub-family Bovinae;

(z.2) commercially prepared pet food that contains ingredients derived from animals of the sub-family Bovinae if

(i) the ingredients are not derived from Bovinae specified risk material, or

(ii) the animals from which the ingredients are derived originated in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, New Zealand or Uruguay;

(z.3) protein-free tallow with a maximum level of insoluble impurities of 0.15% by weight, or derivatives made from it;

(z.4) household garbage from the United States containing protein from an animal;

(z.5) aircraft garbage or ship's refuse, as that term is defined in subsection 47.1(1) of the Health of Animals Regulations; or

(z.6) animal food to be fed to sled dogs participating in an official competition taking place north of the 60th parallel.

3. The Animals of the Family Bovidae and Their Products Importation Prohibition Regulations, No. 2 (see footnote 1) are repealed.

4. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

The purposes of the Health of Animals Act (the "Act") and the Health of Animals Regulations (the "Regulations") are to prevent the introduction of animal diseases into Canada, to prevent the spread within Canada of diseases of animals that either affect human health or could have a significant economic effect on the Canadian livestock industry, and to provide for the humane treatment of animals during transport.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow disease", is a progressive, fatal neurological disease in cattle. It is part of a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which group also includes scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease in deer and elk and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans. Research into BSE is ongoing, but this disease has been associated with the presence of an abnormal prion protein and, to date, there is no effective treatment or vaccine.

On December 23, 2003, the United States Department of Agriculture reported the discovery of a potential case of a dairy cow infected with Bovine BSE in Washington State. Subsequent testing confirmed the initial finding.

The Act grants, among other authorities and powers, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food authority to make regulations prohibiting the importation into Canada of an animal or any other thing from any place for a specified period of time for the purpose of preventing a disease from being introduced into or spread within Canada.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) implemented, under the authority of the Act, broad prohibitions on U.S. animals and their products based upon the belief that the discovery of a U.S.-based case of BSE presented public and animal health threats to Canada. These prohibitions were formalized through the Animals of the Family Bovidae and their Products Importation Prohibition Regulations on January 22, 2004, and then, in response to the continuing evolution of the situation, modified by the Animals of the Family Bovidae and their Products Importation Prohibition Regulations, No. 2 on April 23, 2004.

The previous importation prohibition regulations set out prohibitions on the importation of the animals and their products from the United States, which animals and their products may carry an unacceptable risk of carrying BSE. It prohibited importation of

(i) live animals of the family Bovidae, which includes cattle, bison, water buffalo, sheep and goats;

(ii) meat or meat products from the animals of the family Bovidae and things containing such meat or meat products;

(iii) animal food containing ingredients derived from animals of the family Bovidae;

(iv) fertilizer, excluding manure, containing ingredients from animals of the family Bovidae;

(v) specified risk material (SRM).

Examples of animals and products excepted from the current prohibition included feeder calves (bob calves), animals for temporary stay in Canada (less than 30 days), meat of animals of the sub-family Bovinae — which includes cattle, bison and water buffalo, under 30 months of age with no small intestine and distal ileum, as well as boneless meat from sheep and goats under 12 months of age. Commercial petfood containing ingredients derived from animals of the sub-family Bovinae provided that the product is derived from animals from which the specified risk material has been removed, or that is derived from animals from countries such as Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, New Zealand or Uruguay, and meat products destined for cruise ships temporarily docked in Canada were also exempted from the prohibition.

Mindful of the scope of its authorities under the Act, the Government reviewed the comments received with a view to implementing science-based measures to effectively manage the risks associated with BSE as a zoonotic disease, and to do so in a manner that encourages greater harmonization within North America while adhering more closely to the science-based international standards of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). Consequently, the new prohibition regulations would alter the restrictions in several ways.

With respect to live animals, the new prohibition regulation introduces exemptions for bucks, bulls and rams destined for animal semen production centres. It also introduces exemptions enabling the importation of feeder cattle under 30 months of age as well as goats and sheep under 12 months of age for feeding or for immediate slaughter.

With respect to meat products, bone-in sheep and goat meat and their offal from animals under 12 months of age will no longer be prohibited.

With respect to ingredients in fertilizers and animal foods, the prohibition is broadened somewhat to prohibit the importation of these products if they contain ingredients derived from any ruminants. This is consistent with the recommendation of the OIE which indicates that ruminant-derived meat-and-bone meal or greaves, or any commodities containing such products should not be imported.

A number of additional exemptions for specific animals and animal products are added and others are carried over from the previous prohibition because they are regulated by other means such as the requirement for an import permit or a certification or because they are considered a low risk. For example, an exception for the importation of animal food for sled dogs participating in races in the far north has been included.

The CFIA had previously proposed to remove BSE prohibitions on the importation of sheep and goats and their meat products, as well as on animals of the sub-family Bovinae born after January 1998 and meat products from animals of the sub-family Bovinae of any age from which the SRM had been removed.

After considering the comments received and in the context of ongoing technical discussions with U.S. and Mexican Government officials, it was determined that it would be premature to completely remove these prohibitions by way of the new regulations. Therefore, these Regulations retain certain prohibitions on sheep and goats, except for animals under 12 months of age for immediate slaughter or feeding for slaughter and animals of any age destined for animal semen production centres. A prohibition on the importation of meat from sheep and goats over 12 months of age has also been retained.

With respect to sheep and goats, these changes reflect CFIA's initial analysis of the most current scientific information relative to the possible expression of BSE in sheep and goats, the presence of small ruminants in the North American population which originated from BSE affected countries and the evolution of control programs for animal TSEs in both Canada and the United States.

Taken together, these changes represent a significant step towards better aligning BSE-related prohibitions on animals and products from the United States with the standards of the OIE, and these measures will continue to effectively mitigate the risk of BSE. These prohibitions are also broadly harmonized with measures published but not yet implemented by the United States Government, although in some areas, such as the entry of live cattle for immediate slaughter Canada's approach is significantly less restrictive. This reflects our shared BSE risk profile as well as the commitment of Canada, as a North American country, to move progressively towards a regime of BSE import measures establish consistent with science-based standards of the OIE.

Not enacting the importation prohibition regulation is unacceptable as the current Regulations were scheduled to expire on March 31, 2005. Its expiry would have let drop all BSE-related import prohibitions, including on U.S. products containing ruminant meat and bone meal and SRM, which would pose an unacceptable risk of BSE.

By prohibiting the importation of the animals and other things set out in the Regulations, the CFIA will continue to protect Canadian livestock and consumers against exposure to BSE. The Regulations will introduce exemptions for animals and products for which the risk does not justify an ongoing prohibition against importation.

Implementation of this Regulation assists in the prevention of additional cases of BSE in Canada and minimizes the risk of the transmission of BSE to the human food supply.

Furthermore, the implementation of science-based regulations more closely aligned with international standards will increase both domestic and international confidence in the integrity of the Canadian system.

This Regulation will not significantly affect the current costs to industry given that import prohibitions are already in effect.

The proposed Regulation was pre-published on January 30, 2005 and a total of 19 comments were received. The parties commenting included industry associations, universities, and concerned individuals and the United States Government. The majority of the comments supported the proposed changes and asked that they be implemented without delay.

The most common concern came from the national sheep and goat associations and individual sheep and goat producers. The associations opposed a return to pre-BSE conditions for sheep and goats. Given the concerns expressed, and the fact that BSE has now been detected in two goats in Europe, the proposed Regulation has been modified to include a prohibition on the importation of sheep and goats with exemptions for animals less than 12 months of age imported for the purposes of immediate slaughter and feeding for slaughter and meat from sheep and goats slaughtered at less than 12 months of age.

Some industry associations were concerned that the proposed Regulations were less restrictive than those imposed by the United States for importation from Canada. The new Regulations closely resemble published but not yet implemented U.S. requirements and take into account the level of risk associated with the various animals and products from the United States.

Also based on comments received an additional exemption has been added to the Regulation for animal food for sled dogs participating in official competitions in the far north. As the density of cattle north of the 60th parallel is much lower than in the southern parts of the country, importing meat products for this purpose to this area was not seen as posing an unacceptable risk.

Section 16 of the Act requires anyone importing any animal or thing into Canada to present the animal to an inspector, officer or officer of the Canadian Border Services Agency.

Section 65 of the Act, S.C. 1990, c. 21 establishes offences for refusing or neglecting to perform any duty imposed by or under the Act or its regulations.

Ms. Linda Morrison
Animal Health and Production Division
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
59 Camelot Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0Y9
Telephone: (613) 225-2342
FAX: (613) 228-6614

EXTRA Vol. 139, No. 2