South Africa - Export requirements for meat and poultry products

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Eligible/ineligible product

Eligible

• Pork meat:
  • products recognizable and free of lymph nodes and excessive connective tissue such as: hearts, livers skins (excluding masks), subcutaneous fat, trotters or feet (excluding the carpal and tarsal joints), tails, and ears (see Annex G – List of Imported Pork Products Which will be Exempt from Further Processing on Arrival in South Africa from Canada)
  • boneless or bone-in cuts of meat, free of lymph nodes and excessive connective tissue
  • lungs
• Poultry products:
  • frozen offal
  • poultry meat/skins
  • carcasses/cuts containing kidney from chicken/duck weighing more than 2.7 kg (carcass weight) are eligible
• Mechanically separated meat (MSM)
• Fresh/frozen horse meat
• Cooked meat/meat products
• Sausage casings derived from cattle, sheep or swine

Ineligible

• Beef products

Pre-export approvals by competent authority of importing country

Establishments

• Establishments exporting fresh meat products, including mechanically separated meat, must be approved by the South African authorities.
• Processing establishments functioning as a storage and shipping facility for meat products destined to South Africa do not need to be registered with South Africa.
• Refer to Annex 1 - List of Establishments Approved to Export to South Africa for the list of approved establishments.
• In case the establishment name and number do not appear on the list, exporters are advised to contact the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) area or regional office.
• To be added to the list of establishments eligible to export to South Africa, the operator of an establishment has to make a request to the appropriate CFIA area office. Upon receipt of a recommendation for approval from an area office, the CFIA will make a formal request for approval to the South African authorities who will advise of their final decision. All interested parties will be notified accordingly.

Product

• Each cut of meat (pork) must receive prior approval from South African authorities. The list of cuts provided in Annex G – List of Imported Pork Products Which will be Exempt from Further Processing on Arrival in South Africa from Canada has been approved by the South African authorities.
• Please note that consumer ready meat cuts packed for retail sale in South Africa are eligible for export, but the approval list has yet to be established.
• Unless products meet the requirements for unrestricted entry and are certified accordingly, pork products will only be allowed for importation in South Africa for further processing under the control of South African authorities at approved facilities.

Import permit

• An import permit must be obtained from the authorities of South Africa before the product leaves Canada.
• All applicable requirements will be specified on the permit, including the designation of the specific products allowed for import and requirements for further processing under the control of the South African authorities, as applicable.
• Veterinary health and meat inspection certificates (Annexes) are generally an integral part of the permit.
• The importer and/or exporter are responsible to verify that the certification reflects the conditions prescribed by the import permit.
• Processed products are also subject to the provisions of the legislation administered by the Department of Health.

Production controls and inspection requirements

• Operators of establishments must have control programs in place that will ensure that products non-eligible for other markets/domestic use can be distinguished from those that are destined for export to South Africa through receiving, processing, shipping and distribution.
• The controls measures must include monitoring, verification and deviation procedures.
• The control programs must be reviewed and found satisfactory by the inspector in charge. Inspectors are then responsible for monitoring the operator's controls to ensure themselves that they are adequately followed.

Pathogen reduction program in poultry meat

• Establishments must comply with the provisions of Annex U: USDA Performance Standards for Salmonella.
• Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella typhimurium in poultry meat (Annex D):
  • The certification concerning the absence of Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella typhimurium should be based on 13 samples representative of the shipment.
  • After 16 consecutive shipments negative to Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella typhimurium from the same establishment, the number of samples required will decrease to five (5).
  • The samples should be sent to a federal laboratory or a recognized laboratory accompanied by the usual form. Results of analysis should be kept on file with the corresponding export certificates.
  • If the laboratory results are positive for Salmonella enteritidis and/or Salmonella typhimurium, the shipment is ineligible for export to South Africa. In addition, the operator must retest 13 samples for the next shipment and only after 16 consecutive negative shipments can the number of tests be reduced to five (5).
• Poultry shipments may be subjected to microbiological testing, including Salmonella spp., on arrival in South Africa.

Water potability

• Records must show absence of fecal coliform Escherichia coli and a maximum total plate count of 100 microorganisms per mL or less.

Medical records

• All personnel handling edible products must have passed an annual medical examination declaring him/her fit to handle meat.
• An annual medical examination may be waived if there is an acceptable ongoing program in respect of monitoring the employee's health status. An example of what would be considered as an acceptable ongoing program is illustrated below:
  1. Provision of an in-plant or readily accessible medical service utilizing a physician or a nurse or both.
  2. If there is any reason to believe that an employee's one or two day absence was due to a sickness that may have an impact regarding his/her suitability to handle meat products, the employee reports to the above medical service following the absence and only returns to work after having been declared fit to do so.
  3. If there is any reason to believe that an employee's more prolonged absence was due to a sickness that may have an impact regarding his/her suitability to handle meat products, the employee only returns to work after he/she has obtained a physician's certificate explaining that there is no impediment to his/her return to work in a food handling capacity. Such a certification may also be required in a case of shorter absences where medical history indicates a need.

Labelling, marking and packaging requirements

• For poultry carcasses/cuts containing kidneys from chickens/ducks weighing more than 2.7 kg (carcass weight), shipping cartons shall be labelled as being for export.
• The export stamp must appear on each shipping container and the transport container must be sealed with an official seal.

Documentation requirements

Certificate

Note

When shipping meat products, the following certification must be made in the English language on original official letterhead. Each document must be individually signed, stamped and stamp dated. Photocopies or carbon copies are not acceptable.

• Certificate of Inspection Covering Meat Products (CFIA/ACIA 1454)

• Annex A: Veterinary Health and Meat Inspection Certificate for Fresh Frozen Pork Meat^Footnote 1 (including offal, trimmings and mechanically recovered meat) Exported from Canada to South Africa for Processing at Approved Facilities

  Note

  The exporter must be aware that when the CFIA issues Annex A for a shipment, along with CFIA/ACIA 1454, such shipments are required to go to an officially approved facility for further processing in South Africa.

• Annex A-1: Veterinary Health and Meat Inspection Certificate for Fresh Frozen Pork Meat^Footnote 1 Exported from Canada to South Africa for Unrestricted Entry

  Note

  For point 4.2 of Annex A and Annex A-1, when the entire Trichinella treatment is done en route, please indicate non-applicable on the first line (from) and indicate only the date of placement in container on the second line.

• Annex B: Veterinary Health Certificate for Heat Treated Products for Human Consumption to South Africa
• Annex C: Veterinary Certificate (Sausage Casings)
• Annex D: Veterinary Health and Inspection Certificate for the Export of Poultry Meat (including mechanically recovered poultry meat) from Canada into South Africa
  • For edible poultry skins, point 9 of Annex D does apply while point 10 does not.
• Annex F: Veterinary Health and Meat Inspection Certificate for Horse Meat (including anatomically unrecognisable cuts e.g., trimmings) from Canada to South Africa