Annex F - Additional requirements for establishments eligible to export beef products to Japan

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• Requirements applicable to the establishment
• Requirements applicable to the transfer of eligible product between establishments
• Requirements applicable to storage activities
• CFIA verification

Requirements applicable to the establishment

Slaughter and processing

Operators of slaughter establishments and processing establishments are required to develop, implement and maintain written procedures to ensure the following:

1. only beef derived from cattle born and raised in Canada, or imported from the United States for direct slaughter or to be raised in Canada, are prepared for export to Japan (in case cattle are imported from another country, the Area Operation Specialist should be contacted to determine their eligibility before authorizing slaughter)
2. all ineligible tissues are removed from these cattle in a hygienic manner to prevent cross contamination and commingling with meat products that may be exported to Japan
3. the carcasses and eligible beef products derived from these cattle are easily distinguished at all times from other carcasses and beef products from the point at which compliance is determined
4. all ineligible tissues are excluded from the production of processed meat products that may be exported to Japan

The written procedures should clearly outline the controls that will be implemented to ensure that applicable requirements are met and that eligible products can be readily distinguished from ineligible products at all times. The procedures must be acceptable to the veterinarian-in-charge/inspector-in-charge (VIC/IIC) and must include monitoring, verification and record-keeping activities, deviation procedures and be auditable and effective.

The procedures must address the following, as appropriate to the establishment and to Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) verification needs:

• determination of the age of cattle by a method acceptable to the CFIA (see Guidance on Specified risk material (SRM))
• from the point where age is determined, distinguishing cattle determined to be 30 months of age or older and/or carcasses, offal and other parts of carcasses derived from such cattle
• application of a mark or device to clearly identify the carcass sides of animals 30 months of age or over
• hygienic removal of ineligible tissues:
  • tonsils and distal ileum from cattle of all ages
  • the head (excluding tongue and cheek meat), spinal cord and vertebral column (excluding vertebrae of the tail, the spinous and transverse processes of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and the median sacral crest and wings of the sacrum) from cattle older than 30 months of age
• cutting/deboning of eligible carcasses and processing of eligible beef products in distinct lots, segregated by time or space from other carcasses, parts thereof and beef products
• labelling of boxes containing eligible beef products in a manner that will easily distinguish them from boxes containing ineligible beef products
• receiving procedures for eligible products in the case of establishments receiving products for cutting/boning, processing, packaging or storage
• record keeping activities that will allow the CFIA to document their verifications over the production and transfer of eligible products

Requirements applicable to the transfer of eligible product between establishments

Annex J - Transfer certificate for meat products must be used when eligible products are moved between establishments. Japanese eligible products must be segregated from ineligible products.

Requirements applicable to storage activities

Eligible products must be segregated from other products by pallet to permit their easy identification when export certification is requested.

CFIA verification

In addition to CFIA routine inspection activities, Annex H - Verification checklist - Beef products will be completed in producing establishments to document verification activities conducted by the CFIA to assess the establishment's performance to ensure continued compliance with applicable requirements. Section 1, 2 and 3 of Annex H will need to be completed monthly by the VIC/IIC.

A quarterly review of the establishment's performance and CFIA verification responsibilities will be conducted by a Regional Veterinary Officer (RVO) in the case of a slaughter establishment, or Food Processing Supervisor in the case of a stand-alone cutting/boning/further processing establishment, by completing all sections of Annex H - Verification checklist - Beef products. All efforts should be made to schedule the reviews during the time that production of products eligible for export to Japan is occurring. It is understood that these reviews can be conducted simultaneously with reviews to be conducted by the VIC/IIC and that only one report will be generated.

A "nil" report should be produced when there is no production of products eligible for export to Japan during the scheduled review time period.^Footnote 1

The findings/deviations identified during the above activities and recorded in sections 1, 2, and 3 of Annex H - Verification checklist - Beef products must be documented using the CVS task(s) applicable to additional CFIA supervisory export activities.

Note

Where compliance cannot be verified, certification of product for export to Japan will not be provided. Where an operator is unable to meet applicable requirements or correct deviation, procedures outlined in Meat - Food-specific export requirements should be followed to remove the establishment from the eligibility list.