Canada Changes
Pet Food Import Rules
A new proposal from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (Ottawa)
would require import permits and health certificates for all
pet food that contains animal byproducts—including fish
and fish byproducts—from the United States, according
to the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council-Canada (Ottawa).
The pending changes, first announced in May last year, are
meant to prevent the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
better known as mad cow disease.
The new import regulations, which affect countries with a
BSE risk level classified as Category 2 or 3, become effective
with publication of their final version in Canada Gazette,
expected in March.
The new policy will apply to commercially prepared pet food,
including pet treats, rawhide pet chews, dried pig ears, dried
cattle ears, cow hooves and bull pizzles.
In a November meeting with the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(Washington) and the CFIA, executives from numerous pet food
companies and representatives from the American Pet Products
Manufacturers Association (Greenwich, Conn.), the Pet Food
Institute (Washington) and the Pet Food Association of Canada
(Toronto) questioned whether the USDA and CFIA had sufficient
resources to process the expected volume of permit applications,
according to APPMA. They also were concerned that requiring
health certificates for each shipment could disrupt imports
of pet food and specialty products from the United States,
which represent 40 percent to 50 percent of the pet food sold
in Canada, according to PIJAC-Canada.
The purpose of the new scheme, according to the CFIA, is
to make its regulations more consistent with those of the
USDA. [February 2007 PET AGE]
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