U.S. poultry to face new rules at Canadian border

The ongoing fight with bird flu in American dairies and poultry farms means that changes are coming for the shipment of U.S. birds and poultry crossing into Canada.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has said that, starting Dec. 4, requirements to ship live poultry, birds, hatching eggs and pet birds from the United States will expand to include evidence that those shipments did not pass through zones considered higher risk for highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Shippers will have to have a routing addendum on hand to get over the border. That document must be issued by a United States Department of Agriculture veterinarian who is accredited by the UDSA Animal and Plant Health Inspection service, include a map of the intended transit route and a statement that the birds have not travelled to any established HPAI control zone. The document will also include information on the commodity being exported and the certificate numbers associated with the shipment.

That addendum will be mandatory for all shipments of live poultry and birds from the United States whenever there are active control zones due to HPAI detections in the country, the CFIA has said.

As of Oct. 25, 15 cases of bird flu had been detected in B.C., and one in Saskatchewan according to CFIA data.