Export Requirements for Belize

BEL-4 (Apr 3, 2007)

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Eligible/Ineligible Products

Eligible Products
1. Boneless beef and beef products, including offal products, derived from cattle less than 30 months of age produced under an approved AMS Export Verification (EV) Less Than 30 (LT30) months of age program. Information about the program for Belize and a list of LT30 approved establishments can be obtained from the following website: http://www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/arc/bev.htm.*
  
  If FSIS inspection personnel become aware of concerns that an AMS approved LT30 establishment is not properly executing its Quality Control Program, export certification should not be issued for the product in question and AMS should be notified at ARCBranch@usda.gov. Inspection personnel should include their immediate supervisor on messages to AMS. The following information should be included in the message:*
  - Establishment name, address, and establishment number
  - Product type, product code, and quantity of product
  - Date of production, lot number, and shift
  - Date and nature of observation
  - Name of country product is intended for export
  - Export certificate number (if applicable)
  - Any other information to verify claim
  - Name of inspection official
  Veal and veal products are not subject to the LT30 program.*
2. Proten-free beef tallow.*

Certification Requirements

Obtain FSIS Form 9060-5, Export Certificate of Wholesomeness, and the following statements on an FSIS letterhead certificate:*
1. The beef products were derived from federally certified slaughter facilities, operating under the supervision of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
2. The beef products were derived from cattle that were officially given an ante and post-mortem inspection by FSIS inspection officials.
3. The beef products were derived from cattle less than 30 months of age.
4. The United States has prohibited the feeding of ruminants with meat and bone meal or greaves of ruminant origin since 1997, and this ban has been effectively enforced.
5. BSE confirmed positive animals and identified at-risk cohorts are destroyed and prevented from entering the human or animal food chain.
6. The cattle from which the beef meat was derived were not subjected to a stunning process, prior to slaughter, with a stunning device injecting compressed air or gas into the cranial cavity or to a pithing process.
7. The beef meat was not derived from and do not contain the following specified risk materials: the 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 the dorsal root ganglia of cattle 30 months of age or older, and the tonsils and distal ileum of the small intestine of any cattle regardless of age.
8. The beef products were processed in a manner to avoid contamination with the SRM tissues listed above.
9. The beef products are fit for human consumption.
10. The beef products do not include advanced recovery beef or mechanically de-boned beef.
11. The beef products were subject to testing for chemical residues in accordance with the FSIS National Residue Program.
12. The beef products were produced according to mandatory HACCP regulations, and comply with generic Escherichia coli testing and Salmonella Performance Standards.
Protein-free beef tallow. The following certification statement must be included in the "Remarks" section of FSIS Form 9060-5 for protein-free tallow:*

"The protein-free tallow covered by this certificate has been tested for content of insoluble impurities with the results below 0.15% in weight."

This certification statement will be included on the export certificate based on the presentation of a certificate issued by an independent laboratory report (not belonging to the exporter and/or the manufacturer).

Protein-free beef tallow may be derived from animals of any age and does not have to be produced under the AMS EV program.

Plants Eligible to Export

All Federally inspected establishments are eligible to export to Belize.

BEL-4 (Apr 3, 2007)


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