5.6 Cervids

Authorization

Veterinarians authorized to certify cervids for export to the U.S. may certify both Farmed (HA1891) and Research cervids (HA2973).

Health certificate-farmed cervids

The export certificate HA1891 Export of Farmed Cervids to the United States (U.S.) must be used.

The exported animals were

  • born in the U.S. or in Canada and have been in no other region,
    or
  • legally imported and have resided in Canada for at least 60 days after their unconditional release from post-import quarantine

All cervids described on the health certificate must have been captive farmed and were not born in the wild.

  • continuous records of animal identification and herds of residence for the animals being exported, from the time of birth until export, must have been verified by the Accredited Veterinarian and this must be confirmed to the district office endorsing the certificate

Animals for export are not the direct offspring of any animals that have been diagnosed with Chronic wasting disease (CWD) nor have they resided at any time in a herd in which the disease has been diagnosed.

If less than 1 year of age, animals for export must be natural additions to the herd of origin.

The herd of origin is enrolled in a Chronic Wasting Disease Voluntary Herd Certification Program that has been approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and has achieved and maintained Fully Certified status.

CWD has never been diagnosed in the herd of export.

The herd of export (and the herd of origin, if different than the herd of export) is not known to have been exposed to any wild population infected with chronic wasting disease, Mycobacterium bovis or Brucella abortus.

Note: for chronic wasting disease, timelines of herd of origin (that is of residence) go back 60 months.

The premises of origin is recognized as free of tuberculosis and brucellosis, or there are no resident M. bovis or B. abortus susceptible ruminants, that have not attained negative test results for tuberculosis and brucellosis within the last year.

There must have been no direct or indirect contact between the herd of origin and any known source infected with tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis) or brucellosis (Brucella abortus).

The herd of origin must not contain animals from any herd where tuberculosis or brucellosis has ever been diagnosed.

Neither tuberculosis nor brucellosis has been diagnosed on the premises of origin during the 5 years preceding the start of testing for export.

The herd of origin had been tested for tuberculosis and brucellosis within the last 5 years with negative results.

  • the test date must be recorded on the health certificate

Note: for the purpose this certificate, the wording "USA export eligible herd" means that the whole herd was tested for brucellosis and tuberculosis within the last 5 years with negative results as previously described. The herd met the following conditions for Mycobacterium bovis:

  • infection with M. tuberculosis complex (Mycobacterium bovis) in animals is a notifiable disease in Canada
  • no occurrence of infection with Mycobacterium bovis has been detected in the herd for at least the past 12 months
  • cervids in the herd have shown no clinical signs of infection with Mycobacterium bovis or lesions at ante- or post-mortem inspections for at least the past 12 months
  • additions to the herd of origin since the last herd test are (delete and initial as appropriate, article 6 of the export certificate)
    • natural additions
      or
    • animals from other U.S. export eligible herds (or from the United States Department of Agriculture – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) Accredited Free herds for tuberculosis), which were tested for tuberculosis within the last 5 years, with negative results
      or
    • animals tested for tuberculosis (TB) prior to being added to the herd, with negative results (Note: this option is currently not applicable. It should be crossed off and initialed on the health certificate)

The herd met the following conditions for Brucella abortus:

  • infection with reportable Brucella species in animals is a notifiable disease in Canada
  • no animal of the relevant category of the herd or flock has been vaccinated in the past 3 years
  • no case has been detected in the herd or flock for at least the past year
  • for at least the past year, there has been no evidence of infection with Brucella in other herds or flocks of the same establishment, or measures have been implemented to prevent any transmission of the infection with Brucella from these other herds or flocks
  • additions to the herd of origin since the last herd test are (delete and initial as appropriate, article 7 of the export certificate):
    • natural additions,
      or
    • animals from other U.S. export eligible herds, which were tested for Brucellosis within the last 5 years, with negative results
      or
    • animals tested for brucellosis prior to being added to the herd, with negative results (Note: this option is currently not applicable
      It should be crossed off and initialed on the health certificate)

The herd has met the following conditions for CWD:

  • the export premise has not been epidemiologically linked to a positive CWD premises in the last 60 months prior to the scheduled export
  • no animal within the export premise has resided on a CWD positive premises, or with a CWD positive animal in last 60 months prior to the scheduled export
  • is a certified Chronic Wasting Disease Herd Certification Program (CWD HCP) premise which:
    • in the last 60 months, has only purchased animals from HCP premises that had achieved and maintained «certified» level at the time of the purchase
    • has submitted samples for CWD testing for all animals (12 months of age or older) within the herd which have died from any cause prior to export (for the last 60 months) and received valid test results on at least 95% of the samples submitted
  • there has been no known or suspected contact with wild cervids.
    • the accredited veterinarian has done a visual inspection of the perimeter fencing within the past 12 months, and determined that it was in good repair at the time of inspection and the fencing meets the national standards of the Canadian CWD Herd Certification Program and any provincial or territorial requirements (as applicable) and
    • neither the owner or the accredited veterinarian has any knowledge of unauthorized entry or exit of cervids into the ranch/farm area

Note: in order to certify exports of cervids to the U.S., exporters will be required to provide traceability records to the CFIA to allow for verification of the above conditions. Exporters are responsible for maintaining detailed records demonstrating the herd history, at the single animal level, for the previous 60 months and must be able to provide all necessary documentation to support CFIA verification of the additional requirements. In some cases, these records may reside with other parties, such as the provincial authorities or CWD-HCP Regional Administrator. Exporters must obtain these records for CFIA verification.

During the 60 days before export to the U.S., the cervids for export and the herd of origin must have remained free from symptoms of infectious or contagious disease and, as far as it can be determined, have not been exposed to any such disease.

Certification procedure

Tuberculosis: within the 60 days before export, each cervid for export must be tested with a negative result for bovine tuberculosis using the Canadian Mid-Cervical Test (MCT).

  • any cervid classified as a reactor to the MCT is permanently ineligible for entry to the U.S and cannot be retested at a later date
    • if the status of all test reactors can be established by comparative testing or by post-mortem examination and tissue culture, negative contact animals may be considered for export to the U.S.
    • CFIA staff will perform the comparative testing within 10 days of the date of the MCT as per APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) TB program or more than 60 days after the MCT as per CFIA protocols

Note: a standard mid-cervical tuberculin (MCT) test performed to renew a herd status may qualify as an individual MCT test, provided that it meets the prescribed timeline (within 60 days of exportation) and provided that the herd has a valid negative status (no MCT reactor to the herd test). However, if a simultaneous mid-cervical tuberculin-comparative cervical tuberculin (MCT-CCT) test has been used to renew the herd test, this simultaneous MCT-CCT test cannot be used to meet the requirement of an MCT test performed within 60 days of exportation on animals to be exported.

If the herd test was performed using individual standard MCT test on animals to be exported combined with MCT-CCT test on the rest of the herd, the individual standard MCT test could qualify for both the herd test and individual MCT test for exportation, provided that the individual standard MCT test meets the prescribed timeline (within 60 days of exportation) and there has been no reactor either to the individual standard MTC or the combined MCT-CCT test, which would lead to suspension of the negative herd status.

Brucellosis: within the 30 days before export, cervids must test negative to a buffered plate agglutination test (BPAT) for B. abortus.

  • the sample must be submitted to an approved laboratory.
  • any animal that tests positive is ineligible for entry to the U.S.
    • the animal must be removed from the group and test negative to a fluorescence polarization assay (FPA) or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test in order for the test-negative contact animals to be considered for entry to the U.S.

Cervids under 6 months of age at the time of export, when travelling at the side of their dam, are exempt from the test requirements (brucellosis and tuberculosis).

How to complete the Canadian health certificate (HA1891)

Note: articles 6.iii and 7.iii are already crossed off on the export certificate until further notice.

The accredited veterinarian must use the most recent version of the HA1891 export certificate.

All the cervids must be identified with an official unique individual ear tag or tattoo, and must also have a large readable bangle ear tag that allows the bangle numbers to be checked without offloading the animals during inspection.

  • the bangle tag numbers and corresponding official tag or tattoo numbers must be recorded on the official health certificate

The completed and signed health certificate will be submitted to a CFIA veterinary inspectorfor endorsement.

  • the "Reference Number" will be added by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) district office
  • any incomplete export certificates will be returned to the accredited veterinarian for completion
  • any export which does not meet the requirements of USDA APHIS for entry into the United States will not be endorsed
    • the draft certificate will be returned to the Accredited Veterinarian and exporter with a summary as to why the certificate could not be endorsed
  • a fee is charged for CFIA endorsement
  • endorsed certificates are returned to the accredited veterinarian
  • the health certificate is valid for 30 days from the date of examination of the animals by the accredited veterinarian

The original and 2 copies of the official Canadian health certificate must be issued for each vehicle in a shipment.

Inspections at U.S. ports of entry

The animals must be presented by appointment at the U.S. port of entry. The port veterinarian will conduct a visual health examination of the cervids and verify individual identification and the information on the official health certificate.

Refer to section 5.1 for the list of land ports of entry designated as having the necessary inspection facilities for the entry of animals from Canada.

  • although the list was provided by the USDA, it is the exporters' responsibility to present their animals to a U.S. port of entry that has the facilities required for the unloading and inspection of such animals within regularly scheduled hours of operation

Export of cervids for immediate slaughter

Captive cervidae may be exported for immediate slaughter at USDA approved slaughter establishments without a health certificate. The USDA publishes a list of approved plants – (PDF – 65.3 kb) on its Website.

5.6A Export to the U.S.: certification requirements of research cervids to the U.S.

The inspection and certification procedures described in the section above related to Farmed Cervids are applicable to the certification of Research Cervids except for the following:

  • the species must be recorded on the health certificate
  • an import permit is required and the number must be recorded on the health certificate
  • enrolment in a CFIA-approved provincial Chronic Wasting Disease Voluntary Herd Certification Program is not a requirement for Research Cervids

The export certificate HA2973 - Export of Research Cervids to the United States must be used.

  • as import permit conditions are subject to change from time to time, it is important to first confirm that the export certificate meets all the requirements listed in the permit issued by USDA APHIS
  • in case of discrepancy, please contact your district office for follow up, guidance as soon as possible

References

A copy of export health certificates HA1891 and HA2973 is available at the CFIA district office.

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