Health certification
Export certificate HA1940 Export of Domestic Camelidae to the United States of America must be used. Camelids that originate from a zoo can also be exported to the U.S. with this certificate.
The animals have resided in Canada or the United States from birth or were legally imported into Canada from another region and have been free of any import quarantine or health related restrictions and able to move freely within Canada's national herd for a minimum of 60 days prior to export. If the camelids are offspring of animals imported into Canada from a country other than the U.S., they have been free of any import quarantine or health related restrictions and able to move freely within Canada's national herd for a minimum of 60 days prior to export.
The animals have been resident of the herd of origin in Canada for a minimum period of 60 days before export and do not originate from a premises containing ruminant or swine species that are not part of a herd recognized by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to be tuberculosis free.
Neither M. bovis, M. tuberculosis nor B. abortus has been diagnosed clinically, by diagnostic test or by post-mortem examination, in a camelid, ruminant and/or swine on the premises of origin within the 3 years preceding the issuance of the export certificate.
Unless at the foot of their dam, all animals being exported must be at least 6 months of age and fully weaned at least 1 month before shipping.
- animals less than 6 months of age and travelling at the foot of their dam must be identified on the health certificate and meet the required health status, but do not require testing for tuberculosis or brucellosis
All camelids must be permanently and individually identified. If a microchip transponder is used, an electronic reader capable of reading the microchip must accompany the animal(s) to the U.S. port of entry.
During the 60 days before export, camelids must have had no direct or indirect contact with any animals that are not of equivalent health status. Zoo camelids are not required to be isolated for 60 days provided that the following conditions are met:
- a valid import permit has been issued by the United States Department of Agriculture and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) for the importing facility
- the exporting facility is a certified member of Canada's Accredited Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA)
- the animals have been resident at the zoo for more than 60 days (outside of any CFIA import quarantine restrictions)
All other conditions remain as is on the certificate and the certificate can then be used for zoo camelids. "Herd of origin" in the situation of zoo camelids will be interpreted to mean the exporting zoo facility.
Accredited veterinarians authorized to certify camelids for export to the U.S. must, as a prerequisite, be authorized to conduct intradermal tuberculin testing at the post-axillary site.
- intradermal tuberculosis testing must occur within 60 days of export to the U.S.
- for a description of the post-axillary test, refer to section 3.1
Deaths during pre-export: all animals over the age of 6 months that die during the 60-day period before export to the U.S. are subject to post-mortem examination. Contact the CFIA district veterinarian in every case.
Animals being exported to the U.S. will be transported in cleaned and disinfected trucks directly from the premises of origin or isolation facility to the USDA port of entry.
Certification procedure
If the animals to be exported are removed from the main herd for the 60-day pre-export isolation period, only the animals eligible for testing in this group must be tested. If the export animals remain in the main herd, all the animals in the main herd eligible for the test (ruminant and swine) must be tested. This complies with the condition described above.
Brucellosis: within the 30 days before export, each camelid in the group must be tested for brucellosis (B. abortus) with negative results using the buffered plate agglutination test (BPAT) or a World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH; founded as Office International des Épizooties (OIE)) approved test. The accredited veterinarian must request first the BPAT test and the sample must be sent to an approved laboratory.
Tuberculosis: within the 60 days before export, each camelid in the group must be tested for tuberculosis (M. bovis) with negative results using an intradermal tuberculin test at the post-axillary site.
- for a description of this test, please refer to section 3.1.
Upon examination before departure for export to the U.S., camelids must show no clinical signs of communicable disease.
How to complete the Canadian health certificate (HA1940)
The accredited veterinarian must use the most recent version of export certificate HA1940.
The accredited veterinarian must complete the export health certificate by entering all required information according to the directions provided above.
The "Reference number" is assigned by the CFIA district office.
The completed and signed health certificate will be submitted to a CFIA veterinary inspector to review and, if all requirements are met, endorse.
- any incomplete export certificates will be returned to the accredited veterinarian for completion
- a fee is charged for CFIA endorsement.
Once endorsed, certificates are returned to the accredited veterinarian.
The health certificate is valid for a period of 30 days from the date of the examination.
Inspections at U.S. ports of entry
Animals must be presented at the U.S. port of entry by appointment. Confirmation should be provided to the U.S. port veterinarian 72 hours prior to arrival.
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.
References
A copy of export health certificate HA1940 may be obtained from the district office.