SECRETARÍA DE AGRICULTURA, GANADERIA Y DESARROLLO RURAL (SECRETARIAT OF AGRICULTURE, LIVESTOCK INDUSTRY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT) 04-17-96 NOM-030-ZOO-1995 Mexican Official STANDARD, Specifications and Procedures to Verify Imported Meat, Carcasses, Viscera and Offals at the Animal Health Verification Points. On the side, appears the National Coat of Arms which reads: Mexican United States, Ministry for Agriculture, Cattle Industry and Rural Development. NOM-030-ZOO-1995 MEXICAN OFFICIAL STANDARD, SPECIFICATIONS AND PROCEDURES FOR THE VERIFICATION OF IMPORTED MEAT, CARCASSES, VISCERA AND OFFALS AT ANIMAL HEALTH VERIFICATION POINTS. ROBERTO ZAVALA ECHAVARRIA, General Legal Director of the Ministry for Agriculture, Cattle Industry and Rural Development, in accordance to Articles 35 Section IV of the Organic Law of the Public Federal Administration; 4th, Sections I, III and V, 12, 16, 21, 28, 29, 44, and 47 of the Federal Animal Health Act; 1st, 38 Section II, 40 Sections III and XI, 41 and 47 Section IV of the Federal Metrology and Standardization Act; 10 Section V of the Internal Bylaws of the Ministry for Agriculture and Hydraulic Resources, and WHEREAS It is the duty of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock Industry and Rural Development, through the General Animal Health Office, to organize and manage the cattle defense services and the surveillance or animal health, in order to preserve the health of animals, by avoiding the entry of pests and diseases affecting the national cattle industry. Meat, carcasses, viscera and offals entering the Country, may be a source of disease affecting animal health and public health, if their origin and animal health quality is not verified. Our Country only allows for the importation of meat, carcasses, viscera and offals coming from plants which meet the same requirements, as what is demanded for Mexican plants in the Countries of origin and which come from those Countries where there is no presence of Foot and Mouth Disease, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and other exotic diseases for our cattle industry. Meat product importers are more and more aware of the fact that in Mexico the animal health condition shall prevail in order to make the livestock herds more productive. In accordance to the statistics that are kept in the Animal Health Inspection Units in maritime ports, international airports and borders, it has been proven that there is an increase in the efficacy of meat, carcasses, viscera and offals importations. This has translated into the fact that every day the rejected products by the inspectors are less. Establishments operating inside the Federally Inspected Plants system, and which are controlled by this Agency, have appropriate facilities for the slaughter, refrigeration, freezing and processing of live animals, carcasses and meat, in accordance to the international specifications and to the permanent supervision of official veterinarians who are highly qualified and verify the compliance with the animal health field provisions. On March 1st, 1995, the Official Gazette of the Federation published the draft of the NOM-030-ZOO-1994 Mexican Official Standard. Specifications for verification of meat, carcass, viscera and offals on animal health verification points and on the 21st of August, 1995, the Replies to the comments received in regards to the Draft of the Mexican official Standard mentioned above were published in the same information publication. By virtue of the provisions of Articles 26 and 27 of the Foreign Trade Act, as well as in the Agreement establishing the classification and codification of merchandises whose importation is subjected to regulations by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock Industry and Rural Development, published on the Official Gazette of the Federation on the 30th of December, 1995, it is no longer necessary to introduce in the standard the Normative Appendix “A” contained in the initial project, since the tariff schedules of the merchandise subject to verification on the border, are already included in the Agreement mentioned above. Given all the facts above and the indicated legal process mentioned in the two paragraphs above, I have decided to issue the NOM-030-ZOO-1995 Mexican Official Standard, SPECIFICATIONS AND PROCEDURES FOR VERIFICATION OF IMPORTED MEAT, CARCASSES, VISCERA AND OFFALS AT THE ANIMAL HEALTH VERIFICATION POINTS. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. OBJECTIVE AND FIELD OF APPLICATION 2. REFERENCES 3. DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS 4. GENERAL PROVISIONS 5. VERIFICATION 6. SUPPLEMENTARY PROVISIONS 7. REJECTIONS 8. PENALTIES 9. AGREEMENT WITH INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 10. BIBLIOGRAPHY 11. TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS 1. Objective and Field of Application 1.1. This Official Standards is mandatory in all the Country, and its objective is to establish a procedure and the technical specifications for the verification of products, under the tariff schedules that are included in the Agreement which sets forth the classification and coding of the goods whose importation is subject to the regulations by the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock Industry and Rural Development (SAGARPA), so as to verify that the products do not pose an animal health hazard, and that they are in optimum hygienic-sanitary quality for human consumption. This Standard is applicable at the authorized verification points by the SAGARPA, which have the necessary infrastructure for the verification process. 1.2. The surveillance and application of the provisions herein are in the hands of the Dirección General de Salud Animal (General Office of Animal Health), Dirección General de Inspección Fitozoosanitaria en Puertos, Aeropuertos y Fronteras (General Office of Phytozoosanitary Inspection at Ports, Airports and Borders), as well as the Delegaciones de la Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería y Desarrollo Rural (Regional Offices of the SAGARPA) within their powers and jurisdiction. 2. References. This Standard is supplemented with the following Mexican Officials Standards: NOM-004-ZOO-1994 Standard: Control de residuos tóxicos en carne, grasa, hígado y riñón de bovinos, equinos, porcinos y ovinos (Toxic Residue Control in Meat, Fat, Liver and Kidneys from Beef, Horses, Pigs and Sheep). NOM-008-SCFI-1993 Standard, Sistema General de Unidades de Medida (General System of Units of Measurement). NOM-009-ZOO-1994, Proceso sanitario de la carne. NOM-018-ZOO-1994 Standard, Médicos veterinarios aprobados como unidades de verificación facultados para prestar servicios oficiales en materia zoosanitaria (Veterinarians Approved as Verification Units Empowered to Provide Official Services in the Animal Health Field). 3. Definitions and Abbreviations For the purposes of this Standard, the following definitions are provided: 3.1. Aliño (Carcass Dressing): Process by which the hide of the animal is removed –for animals with hair: likewise, feathers, head, viscera and feet; kidneys may be left attached to the carcass. 3.2. Canal (carcass): The body of the animal without skin, hair or feathers, viscera, feet and head, except for the pig, which may have the head attached. 3.3 Características organolépticas (Organoleptic Characteristics): These are the physical conditions which are perceived through our senses. 3.4. Carne (Meat): It is the structure made up by striated muscle fiber, with or without elastic connective tissue, fat, bone, nervous fibers, lymphatic and blood vessels of the animal species authorized for human consumption. 3.5. Certificado Zoosanitario de Importación (Importation Animal Health Certificate): Official document which certifies that the goods to be imported meet the animal health requirements in force. 3.6. Combo: Cubic or cylinder-shaped container made of cardboard, plastic or some other harmless material, usually larger than boxes. In the case of cardboard material, it shall be lined with plastic material to prevent meat to attach to it. 3.7. Despojo (Offals): Those edible parts that are obtained from supplied animals which are not part of the carcass. 3.8. Embarque (Shipment): Products which are listed by the same document which certifies the sanitary quality of origin. 3.9. Fase (Phase): It is the stage in which an approved plant is, in accordance to the sanitary reliability demonstrated during previous importations. 3.10. Frigorífico aprobado (Approved Cold Storage): Warehouses at refrigerated and/or frozen temperature approved by the Ministry to operate as animal health verification points. 3.11. Hoja de Requisitos Zoosanitarios (Animal Health Requirement Sheet): It is a document by which the General Office of Animal Health provides the importation users with the animal health requirements they are to meet, in each case, for the temporary or final importation. 3.12. Laboratorio de pruebas (Test Laboratory): A laboratory approved by the SAGARPA, in order to conduct toxic-residue testing in meat, fat, liver and kidney. 3.13. Lote (Lot, Batch): Each one of the parts into which a shipment is divided, considering the plant of origin and product. 3.14. Muestra (Sample): Portion of product obtained for toxicological testing. 3.15. Médico Veterinario aprobado (Approved Veterinarian): Professional authorized by the SAGARPA to carry out official activities. 3.16. Médico Veterinario oficial (Official Veterinarian): Professional who is part of the staff of the SAGARPA 3.17. Norma (Standard/Regulation): The Mexican Official Standard containing specifications and procedures for the verification of imported meat, carcasses, viscera and offals at animal health verification