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EXTRA Vol. 138, No. 2Canada Gazette Part II OTTAWA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2004 Registration HEALTH OF ANIMALS ACT Animals of the Family Bovidae and Their Products Importation Prohibition RegulationsThe 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 Animals of the Family Bovidae and Their Products Importation Prohibition Regulations. Ottawa, January 21, 2004
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
ANIMALS OF THE FAMILY BOVIDAE AND THEIR PRODUCTS IMPORTATION PROHIBITION REGULATIONS INTERPRETATION 1. (1) The following definitions apply in these Regulations. "Bovinae specified risk material" means
"meat" has the same meaning as in subsection 2(1) of the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990. (viande) "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. PROHIBITION 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 1, 2004 any of the following animals or things: (a) animals of the family Bovidae; (b) meat or meat products derived from animals of the family Bovidae and things containing such meat or meat products; (c) ingredients derived from animals of the family Bovidae to be used in animal food and animal food containing those ingredients; (d) ingredients, other than manure, derived from animals of the family Bovidae to be used in fertilizer and fertilizer containing those ingredients; or (e) Bovinae specified risk material. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to (a) cattle imported for immediate slaughter 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 of the family Bovidae and things derived from them imported for medical use, scientific research or zoological collections; (c) embryos of the family Bovidae; (d) animals and things described in paragraph 51(b) of the Health of Animals Regulations carrying an animal pathogen or part of one and that are imported into Canada under a permit issued under section 160 of those Regulations; (e) boneless beef of cattle under 30 months of age; (f) products of a rendering plant imported into Canada under a permit issued under section 160 of the Health of Animals Regulations; (g) meat and meat products originating in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, New Zealand or Uruguay that are processed in the United States; (h) meat and meat products originating in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand or Uruguay that are in-transit through the United States; (i) meat and meat products to be transported to a community in the United States where the only practical transportation route for the meat and meat products is either a land or water route through Canada as determined by the Agency, taking into account the location of the community and the time required to transport them; (j) meat and meat products that are kept on a ship as ships' stores; (k) a food containing meat or a meat product that is of insignificant quantity having regard to the nature of the food and the nature of the meat or meat product in the food; (l) meat and meat products intended to be used for personal consumption if the weight of all the meat and meat products is 5 kg or less; (m) milk and milk derivatives; (n) hides, wool and skins and derivatives of them; (o) things produced by subjecting bones and tissues, other than tissues from Bovinae specified risk material, to rigorous processes of extraction and purification; (p) finished pet chews, such as dried processed ears, pizzles, hooves or tendons, that are not made from Bovinae specified risk material or from a vertebral column; (q) commercially prepared pet food that does not contain ingredients derived from animals of the sub-family Bovinae; (r) protein-free tallow with a maximum level of insoluble impurities of 0.15% in weight and derivatives made from such tallow; (s) household garbage from the United States containing protein from an animal; or (t) aircraft garbage and ships' refuse as defined in subsection 47.1(1) of the Health of Animals Regulations. COMING INTO FORCE 3. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered. REGULATORY IMPACT (This statement is not part of the Regulations.) Description 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. On December 23rd 2003, the United States Department of Agriculture reported the discovery of a potential case of a dairy cow infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in Washington State. Subsequent testing has confirmed the initial finding. 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. Canada has a strong program in place to prevent the introduction of BSE into the human food chain. The BSE finding represents the first case of BSE reported in the United States. This discovery alters the disease status of US animals, their products and by-products. Currently, animals, products and by-products are imported into Canada in one of two ways, either under an import permit issued under section 160 or other specific provisions of the Regulations or the Import Reference Document. For importations under an import permit, the details of the import requirements are set out on the import permit itself as conditions of importation. If a problem arises with a disease outbreak in another country, the only action needed is to cancel all import permits currently issued and to suspend the issuance of new import permits until the problem is resolved or new import conditions are developed. This being said, in the case of importations under specific provisions of the Regulations or the Import Reference Document, the conditions of importation are specified in the Regulations or the Import Reference Document themselves. In the event of a disease outbreak, the only way to suspend or change importation conditions and prohibit importation of affected animals or other things is to enact ministerial regulations under Section 14 of the Act and then enact an amendment to the Regulations containing the necessary changes. On December 23rd, 2003, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) implemented a broad restriction on US animal and meat products through an emergency direction legally based upon the belief that the discovery of a U.S.-based case of BSE presented public and animal health threats to Canada. The intention was always to formalize these restrictions via regulation in a short period of time. During the drafting of these Regulations, the US investigation demonstrated that the effectiveness of their feed ban was not compromised as was originally believed when a post feed ban animal was reported infected. The investigation has now shown that the infected animal was in fact born prior to the feed ban. Hence the measures can be liberalized in this regard. It is important that certain import controls on U.S. beef products remain in place because of the risk factors that have been highlighted by the recent occurrence in Washington state. Once these have been dealt with through new U.S. requirements, consideration should be given to removing our export controls. As such the current regulatory package represents a science based and more appropriate set of restrictions than was originally put in place on December 23rd, 2003. These Regulations come into force immediately and expire on June 1, 2004. Section 14 of the Act grants to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food the 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. In the past, this authority has been used to prevent honeybees from being imported into Canada from the U.S. due to the presence of the varroa mite (Honeybee Importation Prohibition Regulations, 1999 — SOR/2000-323) . The importation prohibition regulations which are based on the latest scientific information available to the CFIA represent a partial prohibition on the importation of the animals and animal by-products from the U.S. which animals and by-products may carry an unacceptable risk of carrying BSE. The regulations apply only to those animals or animal by-products not currently imported under an import permit. The following animals and animal by-products are prohibited:
(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. It should be noted that there is a list of animals and animal products which are exempted from this prohibition regulation only because they are regulated by other means such as the requirement for an import permit or a certification or are considered a low risk. Those exempted categories deemed to be a risk would not be issued an import permit or other existing approvals to allow its entry into Canada. Examples of exempted products include animals imported for zoos or for scientific research, embryos, boneless beef from cattle under 30 months of age, 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 foods, milk and milk derivatives, products derived from hides, skins and wool, pet chews and pet foods not containing ingredients derived from animals of the sub-family Bovinae (including cattle, bisons and water buffalo). Alternatives Status Quo Not enacting the importation prohibition regulations is unacceptable as the regulations will provide enhanced protection against the importation of animals, and animal by-products constituting a high risk for carrying BSE. Enact Prohibition Regulations (preferred option) By prohibiting the importation of the animals and other things set out above the regulations will create added protection for Canadian livestock and consumers against exposure to BSE. Benefits and Costs Costs This regulation will not impact on the current costs to industry given that an import prohibition is already in effect. Benefits Implementation of these Regulations serves as prevention of any additional cases of BSE in Canada and minimizes the risk of the transmission of BSE to the human food supply. The current BSE incident in the U.S. led to an immediate loss of foreign markets. Exports of beef and live cattle to the U.S. exceeded $3.5 billion in 2002. Furthermore, the implementation of the prohibitions will increase both domestic and international confidence in the safety of Canadian cattle and beef products. Consultation Other departments, industry, provincial and territorial representatives have been kept apprised of CFIA actions by way of conference calls and other communication mechanisms. Compliance and Enforcement Section 16 of the Health of Animals Act requires anyone importing any animal, animal product or by-product, into Canada to present the animal to an inspector, officer or customs officer. Section 65 of the Health of Animals 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. Contacts
Dr. Debbie Barr/Dr. Louise Carrière
S.C. 1990, c. 21 |
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