Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Trader Notice MH 18/2017

To: All Food Business Operators at Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine approved meat establishments and cold stores

Subject: EU Health Certificate for the Export of Fresh /frozen Bovine, Ovine or Porcine Meat, Offal and Certain fats from Eligible EU Member States

to Hong Kong

This is to advise you of the introduction of the agreed EU /Hong Kong veterinary certificate for the export of fresh, chilled or frozen meat, offal and certain fats of bovine, ovine or porcine origin to Hong Kong. This certificate covers the following CN (HS) codes: 02.01; 02.02; 02.03; 02.04; 02.06; 02.09; 05.04; 15.01; 15.02 and is effective for certificates signed on or after 1 December 2017.

Scope

The scope of this Export Certificate covers exports under certain CN (HS) codes (outlined below) of fresh/frozen meat, offal and certain fats of cattle, pigs or sheep that were born and raised in Member States of the European Union that have established import protocols with the Hong Kong Authorities for export of the species in question.

Eligible Products

Only fresh meat, offal and certain fats with the following CN Codes are eligible for export to Hong Kong (products not applicable to this certificate are struck out):

CN Code / Description
02.01; / Meat of Bovine animals, fresh or chilled
02.02; / Meat of Bovine animals, frozen
02.03; / Meat of swine, fresh, chilled or frozen
02.04; / Meat of sheep or goats, fresh, chilled or frozen
02.06; / Edible offal of bovine animals, swine, sheep, goats, horses, asses, mules or hinnies, fresh, chilled or frozen
02.09; / Pig fat free of lean meat and poultry fat (not rendered), fresh, chilled, frozen, salted, in brine, dried or smoked
05.04; / Guts, bladders and stomachs of animals (other than fish), whole and pieces thereof
05.06; / Bones and horn-cores, unworked, defatted, simply prepared (but not cut to shape), treated with acid or degelatinized; powder and waste of these products
15.01; / Lard ; other pig fat and poultry fat, rendered, whether or not pressed or solvent-extracted:
15.02 / Fats of bovine animals, sheep or goats, raw or rendered, whether or not pressed or solvent-extracted :

Legal requirements of Hong Kong

There are two official export documents which are used in different circumstances:

  1. Health Certificate,
  2. Export Declaration

The Hong Kong Authorities have imposed the following export conditions which determine whether a Health Certificate or an Export Declaration are used:

  1. The official document must always come from the exporting Member State.
  2. A Health Certificate can only be issued by the Member State where the animal was slaughtered.
  3. If the animal was slaughtered in a Member State different from the exporting Member State, a Health Certificate cannot be issued. Instead, the exporting Member State must issue an Export Declaration and the importer in Hong Kong must obtain permission in writing from the Centre for Food Safety of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department of Hong Kong before importing the consignment into Hong Kong.

Scenarios for exports of red meat / meat products from eligible EU Member States to Hong Kong

A, B, C = EU Member States approved for export of the respective meat / meat product to Hong Kong.

Eligible Member States are listed by the Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety at at http://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/import/import_icfsg_04a.html

The following bilaterally agreed veterinary health certificates outlined in Trader NoticeMH11/2014 and Trader Notice number MH 37/2014 will no longer be accepted by the Hong Kong authorities for meat consignments coming under the above HS codes which are certified from 1 December 2017.

·  Meat Inspection Certificate for the Export of Chilled/Frozen Beef/ and Pork to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR);

·  Veterinary Health Certificate to Accompany Fresh Chilled/Frozen Sheepmeat for Export from Ireland to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

This new export health certificate and export declaration will be made available to certifying officers on request through the usual channels.

The wording of the Health certificate is attached at Annex 1

The wording of the Export declaration is attached at Annex 2

Role of FBO

Any DAFM approved FBO interested in exporting meat, offal and fats of cattle, pigs or sheep to Hong Kong, must draw up an SOP beforehand and put in place procedures, to be agreed by the official veterinarian of this Department, which demonstrate how they intend to produce meat /offal/fats and that comply with the requirements for export of meat/ offal/fats to Hong Kong as set out in the veterinary health certificate and/or export declaration.

Meat Hygiene Division

30th November 2017