1. Eligible/ineligible product
a) Eligible
- Meat and offal derived from cattle
- Meat and offal derived from sheep
- Meat and offal derived from goat
- Poultry meat and poultry products
- Game buffalo meat
- Salted meat
- Smoked meat
- Minced meat (sausage meat)
- Canned products
b) Ineligible
- Pork, lard and products containing pork, pig fat or alcohol: The importation of these products is prohibited.
2. Labelling, packaging and marking requirements
Importers and exporters are responsible to ensure that products are labelled in accordance with Kuwait labelling requirements applicable at the time of importation.
- a) Carcasses shall be branded to indicate compliance with Halal ritual slaughter requirements.
- b) Consumer-sized packages of meat and meat products require Arabic labelling detailing the trade description, product contents, date of manufacture and expiry date. There is no objection to dual labelling in English and Arabic.
- c) The validity of vacuum packed chilled red meat (according to the approved standard: GSO 150-1:2013/Amd 1:2015) has been extended from 70 days to 90 days after the slaughter date (to match other GCC member countries)
3. Documentation
Annex A must be issued for meat and offal derived from cattle, sheep, and goat: It can be used for beef Over Thirty Months (OTM) and Under Thirty Months (UTM). The certificate must be accompanied with a CFIA/ACIA 1454 and bear the same serial number.
4. Other information
- a) A certificate in respect of ritual slaughter is required
- b) Preserved meat and meat products shall not contain sodium nitrate in excess of 500 mg/kg measured as nitrate, free sulphur dioxide in excess of 450 mg/kg or starch in excess of 4% on a dry weight basis.
- c) Additionally for heat treated beef, sheep and goat meat products, the following attestation by the official veterinarian that the products have been treated by one of the following methods:
- Canned Red Meat: It was subjected to a temperature of not less than 70°C for at least 30 minutes
- Cooked Meat: Bones and fats were removed and the product was subjected to a temperature of not less than 70°C for at least 30 minutes;
- Dried and Salted-cured Meat: bones were removed, and the product was salted with common salt (sodium chloride) and completely dried.