Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took steps to make the importation of certain live animals less burdensome.
Live animals imported for use as food are regulated by FDA. However, most live animals (e.g., cattle, poultry, swine) intended for use as food, including those that are imported, are required to be slaughtered under mandatory inspection by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and processed at USDA-regulated establishments that are subject to USDA-administered hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) requirements. While the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) regulation explicitly provides an exemption for certain food (i.e., certain meat, poultry, and egg products) that is subject to certain USDA requirements at the time of importation, the exemption does not include live animals that are imported for use as food.