On March 21, 2018, FDA released guidance on this very subject, wherein they indicated that they intended to exercise enforcement discretion regarding the application of FSVP for slaughter animals and also included clarification for feeder and breeder animals.Live animals for slaughter being processed at USDA facilities (or state-inspected establishments with equivalent requirements)… including feeder animals, are fully exempt from FSVP.
Live animals that are required to be slaughtered and processed at U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)-regulated establishments subject to USDA-administered hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) requirements (or at state-inspected establishments subject to requirements equivalent to the federal standards), including designated feeder animals, are now exempt from FSVP as of March 21, 2018.
The guidance also addressed show and breeder animals which are not considered food and, therefore, are exempt from FSVP.
Of note, however, is that the Federal Register goes on to specifically mention that, “Importers of live animals of species such as bison or elk that are not processed at USDA-regulated slaughter and production plants under HACCP requirements might determine that there are drug residues or other hazards requiring control. Importers of such live animals might therefore be required to conduct supplier verification for the foreign supplier that raised the animals.
For meat subject to USDA requirements at the time of importation, see What Foods are Exempt From FSVP?
Source:
- Federal Register Volume 80, Number 228, Page 74256 – 74257
- 21 CFR 1.507
- Guidance for Industry: Application of the Foreign Supplier Verification Program Regulation to the Importation of Live Animals