2004 Press Releases

New Importation Procedures for Beef Products from the U.S.

June 22, 2004

Effective June 4, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries have agreed to new importation requirements for beef and beef products from the United States.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO), Dr. Joseph Ryan, has approved the language that must accompany all boneless, bone-in-beef and beef products. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture has stated that Trinidad and Tobago’s importers are now required to obtain an affidavit from the appropriate U.S. manufacturer or processor which states that the beef and beef products do not contain advance meat recovery (ADR).

Following is language that has been recommended to accompany imports of beef and beef products into Trinidad and Tobago from the United States:

· The meat and meat products are derived from cattle that were subject to ante-mortem and post-mortem inspection according to USDA regulations and were slaughtered after January 12, 2004

· All cattle are humanely stunned by a method that does not inject air into the cranial cavity

· The beef and beef products were not derived from and do not contain any of the following specified risk materials, brain, skull, eyes, trigeminal ganglia, spinal cord, vertebral column (excluding the vertebrae of the tail, the transverse processes of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and the wings of the sacrum) and dorsal root ganglia, from animals over 30 months of age at the time of slaughter and the tonsils and intestine from pylorus to anus, of all animals regardless of age.

· The beef and beef products do not contain any mechanically separated meat.
Our electronic export library has been updated with the above information, which will allow USDA inspectors to include this language in all our future export certificates.

Any questions and or requests for further information should be addressed to the Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Division at Tel. No. 868-625-5997.