24 April 2025
Purpose
To inform stakeholders of the change in requirements for the post-mortem inspection of beef masticatory muscles produced for export in United States of America (USA) listed establishments.
Key Points
This advice applies to establishments listed for beef for the United States of America (USA). This advice does NOT apply to beef produced for the European Union (EU), United Kingdom (UK), or Switzerland markets.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (the department) has successfully negotiated with the US Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) that the post-mortem procedures for beef masticatory (cheek, masseter) muscles in the Australian Standard for the Hygienic Production and Transportation of Meat and Meat Products for Human Consumption (AS 4696:2023) deliver equivalent food safety outcomes to those in the USA. Establishments wishing to access the US non-incised beef masticatory muscle market must follow the steps outlined in Requirements for Approved Arrangement (AA) amendments to implement AS4696:2023 post-mortem inspection procedures for beef carcases eligible for United States of America.
Departmental On-Plant Veterinarian (OPV) will:
- provide establishment management with a copy of this industry advice notice as soon as possible
- verify the establishment responsibilities and actions of this industry advice notice have been included in the establishment’s arrangement
- verify the establishment complies with the requirements of this notice
- review the supporting documents (see below) published to support the implementation of these changes.
- verify that the required post-mortem inspection procedures for at risk cattle are implemented by officers conducting post-mortem inspection.
Area technical managers (ATM) will:
- review the establishment’s proposed approved arrangement amendment
- approve or not approve the amendment as per their findings
- verify through audits the establishment’s compliance/non-compliance with relevant export legislation, importing country requirements and Australian standards.
Export Meat Operational Policy 17.0 Arrangements for the implementation of the new Australian standard for the hygienic production and transportation of meat and meat products for human consumption (AS4696:2023)has been updated. Refer to table 3.
To support the implementation of C. bovis risk management procedures, two new guidance documents have been published on Electronic legislation, manuals and essential references (ELMER-3):
- Guideline - Export Meat Operational Guideline 3.9: Sourcing of livestock and wild game
- Export Meat Operational Reference 3.9a: C. bovis risk management
The Manual of Importing Country Requirements (Micor) has been updated on the Micor website. You will need to login to access Micor (meat). Exporters and affiliated industries can apply for a login.
Supporting information will also be made available to Australian government authorised officer (AAO) registered training providers via the Australian export meat inspection system (AEMIS) portal.
Contact Information
If you have any questions regarding this IAN, please contact your ATM.
Matthew Campbell
Assistant Secretary a/g
Meat Exports Branch
Requirements for Approved Arrangement (AA) amendments to implement AS4696:2023 post-mortem inspection procedures for beef carcases eligible for United States of America
- US-listed establishments NOT listed for EU, UK or Switzerland:
- Review the AA to determine what amendments are required to implement changes to post-mortem inspection procedures. Important: in line with AS4696:2023, Schedule 2, Tables 3 and 4, incision of heart muscles, tongue and diaphragm after removal of serous membranes and observation of all exposed muscle surfaces is still a requirement for cattle that have been grazed on properties where exposure to Cysticercus bovis infection (beef measles) may have occurred (CBP or CBA statuses).
- The AA must:
- Detail the procedures for querying the NLIS early warning (EW) system to get early warning of a possible PIC status alert. (NLIS alert statuses and the actions required for each status are described at point 3 NLIS C. bovis alert statuses below.)
- Detail the response(s) to a CBP PIC status.
- Detail the procedures to apply to animals with a CBA status where the EW system returns an alert for a CBW PIC status.
- Detail the procedures that apply if a CBA device status is detected at the RFID device reader where there was no PIC status early warning.
- Draft the amendments and submit them with an application to vary a registration and/or approved arrangement (EX26b) for department approval. EX26b applications can be submitted from 24 April 2025.
- Amend related work instructions.
- Implement training for any employees whose roles and duties are affected by the amended AA and/or work instructions.
- After approval of the EX26b, implement the changes to post-mortem inspection procedures.
- US-listed establishments WITH EU, UK or Switzerland listing:
- If the establishment wishes to implement revised post-mortem procedures for US-eligible carcases, draft amendments to your AA to meet the requirements detailed at point 1 above, and including;
- Detail that EU, UK, or Switzerland eligible carcases will be subject to the inspection requirements specified for the EU in Micor and how this will be achieved. Review the AA to determine whether amendments are required to meet the EU, UK or Switzerland requirements for post-mortem inspection.
- Detail corrective actions to be taken where EU, UK or Switzerland post-mortem inspection requirements have not been met. For example, where a carcase has not had the masseter muscles incised, the carcase, its offal, and other edible carcase parts, are not eligible for these markets and must be identified and segregated from eligible carcases.
- If the establishment wishes to implement revised post-mortem procedures for US-eligible carcases, draft amendments to your AA to meet the requirements detailed at point 1 above, and including;
- NLIS C. bovis alerts
Alerts may be provided through the NLIS system at the EW stage for PIC-based C. bovis statuses and at the RFID reader for device-based statuses. The system will return a message indicating the actions to be taken.
Refer to the document TERMS OF USE FOR THE NATIONAL LIVESTOCK IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (NLIS) DATABASE, Edition 1.26 for further information on status alerts.
The C. bovis related NLIS statuses are CBA (device), CBP (PIC), and CBW (PIC). Refer to table 1 for the actions required for each status when detected at the establishment. If there is any uncertainty in the meaning of an alert, the OPV should be consulted.
| Status code | Status Type | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| CBA | Device (Individual animal) |
|
| CBP | PIC (Property) |
|
| CBW | PIC (Property) |
|
*Note: the establishment may elect to perform full post-mortem inspection for C. bovis on all animals from a PIC with a CBP status or animals from a PIC with a CBW status that do not have a CBA status on the individual devices.