1. Export certificates for any country requiring a statement certifying that all beef meat products are free of BSE cannot be signed until further notice. An exception will be made for "replacement" or "in lieu of" certificates issued prior to December 24, 2003.

2. Exporters are advised to re-verify any changes in import requirements prior to shipping beef meat products to a foreign country. Information on new or changed import requirements should be reported to the Office of International Affairs at (202) 720-6400 as soon as possible. This information must be verified by FSIS with foreign governments before shipments will be certified.

3. As of December 30, 2003, Australia, Bahrain, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Zambia have notified USDA that they are suspending the importation of all U.S. beef meat products until further notice. Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and Venezuela have extended this ban to include all ruminant products. Bahrain, Japan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and South Korea have notified USDA that all shipments in transit will be refused entry upon arrival. Russia will refuse shipments with an export certificate date of December 23, or after. While Indonesia, Taiwan, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will refuse shipments with an export certificate date of December 24, 2003, or after, the UAE will accept shipments already in transit which bear certificate dates prior to December 24. Egypt has not issued a ban on U.S. beef meat products, but it has suspended the issuance of import permits for U.S. beef and will permit entry of all shipments with an on-board date prior to December 25, 2003. Canada has implemented a number of interim import restrictions for U.S. beef meat products (see Export Notice 2003-10), but will continue to permit entry of boneless beef from cattle aged 30 months or less at time of slaughter. Exporters are advised that other countries may initiate similar restrictions in the near future.

4. FSIS will issue "replacement" or "in-lieu-of" export certificates for shipments diverted to third countries provided FSIS has not received official notification from the importing country that it will not accept the product contained in such shipments.

OIA is obtaining updated information on a regular basis and will provide further guidance as it becomes available.