FSIS is the public health regulatory agency responsible for ensuring that domestic and imported meat, poultry, and processed egg products are safe, wholesome, and correctly labeled and packaged. FSIS ensures that meat, poultry, and egg products imported to the United States originate from eligible countries and are produced under standards equivalent to U.S. inspection standards.
Understanding ACE-related changes
FSIS form 9540-1 (Import Inspection Application and Report) is being converted to an electronic message set. Additionally, FSIS requires that all imported shipments of meat, poultry and egg products be properly certified by the exporting foreign country (Official Foreign Inspection Certificate, which will remain a paper submission in most cases).
Under ACE, FSIS requires data elements (message set), dependent on the commodity, and depending on whether electronic certification (government to government eCert) is applicable. At this time, eCert countries include Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. FSIS receives Foreign Inspection Certification electronically for these countries. For imports from e-cert countries, the foreign inspection certificate number would be entered in ACE, and automatically populate specific lot information contained on the certificate. For non-eCert countries, lot information will need to be transmitted within the entry transaction directly from the Foreign Inspection Certificate.
Note that the requirement for a paper copy of the Foreign Inspection Certificate for non-e-cert countries remains the same.
As the importer of record, providing necessary data and ensuring your carrier reports for inspection is your responsibility. Should you fail to provide the proper data elements at time of import, your shipments will be delayed, and/or possibly refused entry. Shipments which fail to report for import inspection may be marked “Failure to Present” and may face a recall.
The customs experts at Livingston can help
Livingston’s U.S. Customs specialists are ready to assist you in ensuring you’re ready to capture and transmit the required data elements. With a full staff of U.S. regulatory affairs experts, we know the FSIS requirements in detail, and are ready to help ensure your compliance is maintained.
We’ve spent months getting ACE-ready. Our people, processes and technology are in place and ready to support existing and new clients, whatever their FSIS or ACE needs.
For further information contact your Livingston sales representative or email us at clientserviceus@livingstonintl.com.