Bringing Meat Across the Border
Posted date : Nov 13, 2017.
Dear Bird Talk,
We returned to Canada on April 7 after our winter in Arizona, crossing at the Coutts, Alberta/Sweetgrass, Montana border station. We were instructed to put all poultry products, specifically chicken (fresh, frozen, or cooked), eggs and pet food products in garbage containers at the border. We were not allowed to bring these items into Canada. Since returning, we have learned of other snowbirds who crossed at a different border station (in B.C.) and who were not questioned about or required to trash these products.
Are you aware of any Canadian directive on this issue, or could it be a provincial directive? Curiosity has gotten the best of me.
Rosemarie Beach
Response:
We recently received a press release from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regarding importing poultry products into Canada.
California, Nevada and Arizona are involved in attempting to control a serious animal disease called Exotic Newcastle Disease. Although this disease is not a concern to humans, if it were inadvertently imported into Canada it could cause devastation to the Canadian poultry industry.
For more information about what you can import, please visit the CFIA Web site at www.inspection.gc.ca.
That being said, we’re not sure why you were stopped while your friend was not. Unfortunately, there is still a lot of inconsistency when crossing the border; you may have simply gotten a more thorough border guard
