Eligible countries and meat products for importation into Canada

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To see the Official Meat Import Certificates (OMIC) attestations required for importing meat into Canada refer to the countries from which commercial importation of meat products is allowed. To consult detailed requirements for meat imports from the United States to Canada, refer to the Export Requirements for Canada on the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) website.

The conditions of import in the links above must be met before a commercial shipment of meat is imported into Canada, unless the product or its end-use is exempted in the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.

Consult the list of foreign establishments eligible to export meat products to Canada to determine if the establishment of interest is eligible to export to Canada.

The table below provides an overview of the meat inspection systems approved by country and by species and the type of meat products permitted within that recognized inspection system.

This table is maintained by the Food Import Section of the Food Import Export Division.

For questions, foreign exporters are advised to contact the foreign competent authority of their country.

Importers are advised to contact the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) through Ask CFIA

An animal health import permit, may also be required for shipments of edible meat (other than commercially sterile products) from countries not recognized free by Canada of all foreign animal diseases of concern for the species of origin. The import permit must be obtained and shown to the official of the foreign competent authority signing the certificate before the shipment is certified in the country of origin. Refer to the Terrestrial Animal Products and Byproducts: Import Policy Framework for further information on animal health requirements for import of edible meat.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)-approved meat products from foreign countries

Argentina

  • Bovine – aged boneless beef, natural salted casings, cans, shelf stable dried soup-mix products, bouillon cubes, meat extract
  • Poultry – raw, cooked, no feet or head allowed

Australia

(raw and processed for all meat types below)

  • Bovine – beef, veal and feral camel
  • Ovine and caprine
  • Wild hunted game (kangaroo)
  • Ratites (ostrich, emu, rhea)
  • Cans and/or retortable pouches
  • Shelf-stable dried soup-mix products, bouillon cubes, meat extracts

Brazil

  • Bovine – pH matured boneless fresh and raw processed, boneless beef cooked in tube, canned, shelf stable dried soup mixes, bouillon cubes, meat extract, dehydrated beef stock, jerky, natural salted casings
  • Poultry – raw (broiler chickens, broiler turkeys, broiler chickens breeding hens, and broiler turkeys breeding hens only), cooked products
  • Swine – fresh, cooked and canned

Chile

  • Bovine – raw boneless (excluding mechanically separated meat), natural intestinal salted casings, commercially sterile shelf stable products, ground meat and precursors
  • Ovine – raw, natural salted intestinal casings
  • Swine – raw, natural salted intestinal casings
  • Poultry – raw, cooked

China

  • Poultry (including duck meat) – cooked fully dressed carcasses and parts and cooked meat by-products (heart, gizzard and liver only)
  • Natural salted intestinal casings of animals of family bovidae born, raised and slaughtered in Australia, New Zealand and Canada only
  • Natural salted intestinal casings derived from swine, born, raised and slaughtered in Canada or USA only
  • Grain products stuffed with chicken or duck of Chinese origin, imported swine and bovine ingredients originating from CFIA-approved sources
  • Canned poultry and swine from approved sources

Israel

  • Poultry – processed (cooked only)

Japan

  • Bovine – raw

Mexico

  • Bovine (Mexican and foreign origin) – raw and processed, canned
  • Swine (Mexican and foreign origin) – raw and processed, canned
  • Poultry (imported from approved sources only) – raw and processed
  • Broths/bouillon, flavours and meat extracts prepared from CFIA-approved sources

New Zealand

  • Bovine – raw and processed
  • Ovine and caprine – raw and processed
  • Farmed deer – raw and processed

Paraguay

  • Bovine – raw pH matured and boneless beef (chilled or frozen), including cuts and trimmings but excluding mechanically separated meat and ground beef

South Korea (Republic of Korea)

  • Poultry – processed (cooked only)
  • Bovine – Broths, flavours and meat extracts prepared from imported bovine meat (non Korean origin) from CFIA approved sources

Thailand

  • Poultry (Chicken and duck only) – processed (cooked only) and canned

Ukraine

  • Poultry – raw and cooked

Uruguay

  • Bovine – aged boneless, processed, natural salted casings
  • Ovine – aged boneless, natural salted casings

United Kingdom (UK)

  • Bovine – raw and processed
  • Swine – raw and processed
  • Poultry (including duck) – raw and processed
  • Ovine and caprine – raw and processed
  • Broths/bouillon, flavours and meat extracts prepared from CFIA approved sources

United States of America (USA)

  • Bovine – raw and processed, blood products, natural salted casings
  • Swine – raw and processed, blood products, natural salted casings
  • Poultry – raw and processed, legally imported
  • Ovine and caprine – raw and processed, natural salted casings
  • Bison, buffalo products
  • Closed-faced sandwiches – must be from an eligible Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) amenable product with Export Verification Program
  • Broths/bouillon, flavours and meat extracts prepared from CFIA approved sources under FSIS or Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection

European Union (EU) member states with approved meat systems and meat products

Austria

Belgium

Croatia

Czech Republic

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Hungary

Ireland

Italy

  • Bovine – rawFootnote 1
  • Bovine – processed, cured, cooked, canned, shelf stable dried soup mix products, bouillon cubes and meat extracts and natural salted casingsFootnote 2
  • Swine – rawFootnote 1
  • Swine – processed, cooked boneless, pasteurized canned cured, hog casingsFootnote 2
  • Poultry – rawFootnote 1, cooked, canned, shelf stable dried soup mix products, bouillon cubes and meat extracts from approved non-Italian sources onlyFootnote 2

Lithuania

Netherlands

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Spain

  • Bovine – rawFootnote 2
  • Swine – raw and processedFootnote 2
  • Broths / bouillon, flavours and meat extracts prepared from CFIA approved sourcesFootnote 2

Sweden

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