To import meat to the USA commercially, you need to confirm the exporting country and processing plant are approved by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, obtain an APHIS Veterinary Services import permit, file an FSIS import inspection application and FDA prior notice for each shipment, secure a foreign government health certificate, get your labels approved in advance, post a customs bond, and route the shipment through an FSIS-designated reinspection facility at the port of entry. Three federal agencies, at minimum, will touch every load: FSIS and APHIS at USDA, plus U.S. Customs and Border Protection, with FDA layered on top through its prior notice requirement. Miss any one piece and the shipment can be detained, refused, or destroyed at your expense.
Confirm the Country and Plant Are Eligible
Before you place an order, verify that the specific meat product you want is allowed from the country and establishment producing it. The United States does not accept meat from every nation. Eligibility depends on whether the exporting country’s food safety system has been evaluated and approved by FSIS, and whether the country is free of certain animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza. FSIS publishes a searchable list of approved countries and the specific foreign plants certified to export meat, poultry, and egg products to the U.S.1Food Safety and Inspection Service. Eligible Foreign Establishments Your product must originate from one of those certified establishments, not just from an approved country generally.
APHIS separately tracks the animal health status of foreign regions and can restrict imports on short notice when disease outbreaks occur.2Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. International Traveler: Meats, Poultry, and Seafood A country eligible last month may not be eligible today. Check the FSIS list and the APHIS regional status page before signing any purchase order.
One boundary worth noting: if you’re a traveler carrying meat home for personal use, up to 50 pounds of an eligible product may be allowed. Anything over 50 pounds is treated as a commercial shipment and goes through the full inspection process.3U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Is There a Weight Limit on Food Imported Into the United States? The rest of what follows applies to commercial imports.
Permits and Filings You Need
Commercial meat importation involves several overlapping filings across different agencies. Handling one and forgetting another is a common and expensive mistake.
APHIS Veterinary Services Import Permit
APHIS Veterinary Services regulates animal-derived materials to keep foreign animal diseases out of the country. You generally need a VS import permit for meat and animal products.4Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Animal Product Imports Apply through the APHIS eFile system. Before you can submit, you must complete the Veterinary Services Permitting Assistant, which asks about ingredients, species of origin, and source country, then tells you whether a permit is required and what conditions apply.5APHIS eFile. VS Permitting Assistant For multi-ingredient products, list every ingredient so the system can evaluate each one.
FSIS Import Inspection Application
Every meat shipment requires FSIS Form 9540-1, the Import Inspection Application. If your customs broker files electronically through CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment using the Partner Government Agency Message Set, the application data is transmitted as part of that electronic entry. If the broker does not use the PGA Message Set, a paper copy of Form 9540-1 must accompany the CBP entry.6Food Safety and Inspection Service. FSIS Directive 9900.4 – Import Applications The form calls for the country of origin, exporting establishment number, foreign inspection certificate number, product description, net weight, and estimated arrival date.
Foreign Government Health Certificate
The exporting country’s meat inspection authority must issue an official health certificate for every shipment. Under federal regulations, the certificate must identify the country of export and the producing establishment number, the species used to produce the product, and the number of units or containers in the shipment.7eCFR. 9 CFR 327.4 – Imported Meat and Meat Food Products From Countries With Federal Inspection Systems If raw materials originated in a country other than the one exporting the finished product, the certificate must list that source country and establishment as well. Without a valid certificate, FSIS will refuse the shipment at reinspection.
FDA Prior Notice
First-time meat importers often miss this one. The FDA requires advance electronic notice for every food shipment entering the country, including meat that also falls under USDA jurisdiction. The notice must be filed and confirmed by FDA before the shipment arrives. The lead time depends on the mode of transport:8eCFR. 21 CFR Part 1 Subpart I – Requirements To Submit Prior Notice of Imported Food
- By road: at least 2 hours before arrival at the port
- By rail: at least 4 hours before arrival
- By air: at least 4 hours before arrival
- By sea: at least 8 hours before arrival
You can file through CBP’s Automated Broker Interface within ACE, or directly through the FDA Prior Notice System Interface at access.fda.gov. Notice can be submitted up to 30 days in advance through ACE, or up to 15 days through the FDA’s own system. A shipment that arrives without confirmed prior notice can be held or refused admission.
Get Labels Approved Before You Ship
All labeling for imported meat must be approved by FSIS before the product enters the United States. Submit your proposed labels for review well ahead of shipping, not after the product arrives.9eCFR. 9 CFR 327.14 – Marking of Products and Labeling of Immediate Containers
The product itself, where it can be marked, must show the country of origin preceded by the words “product of,” along with the foreign establishment number. Branding ink must be food-safe and create a permanent imprint. Each immediate container needs the product name, net weight, ingredient list where applicable, and the country of origin directly under the product name. Labels display the foreign country’s official inspection mark and establishment number rather than a U.S. inspection legend. For sealed metal containers such as cans, the establishment number must be embossed or printed on the metal itself and cannot be covered by a paper label. FSIS inspectors verify these details during reinspection at the port of entry.10Food Safety and Inspection Service. FSIS Directive 9900.5 – Label Verification of Imported Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products
Duties, Fees, and the Customs Bond
Duty rates on meat vary widely by product and species. Under the 2026 Harmonized Tariff Schedule, processed beef in airtight containers carries a 3.4% duty, other processed beef 3.2%, and processed chicken and turkey 6.4%. Pork products range from less than one cent per kilogram for sausages up to 6.4% for certain prepared cuts.11U.S. International Trade Commission. Harmonized Tariff Schedule Fresh and frozen beef falls under tariff-rate quotas: a lower rate applies up to an annual volume, and a much higher rate applies above it. Australian beef, for example, has a 0% in-quota rate and a 26.4% above-quota rate; most other origins face 4.4 cents per kilogram in-quota and 26.4% above.12USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. Reviewing the Tariff-Rate Quotas for U.S. Beef Imports If you’re planning volume, model your costs against where you’ll land relative to the quota.
Every formal commercial entry also carries the merchandise processing fee of 0.3464% of appraised value, with a fiscal year 2026 minimum of $33.58 and maximum of $651.50 per entry.13Federal Register. Customs User Fees To Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2026 Sea shipments also incur a harbor maintenance fee of 0.125% of cargo value.14eCFR. 19 CFR 24.24 – Harbor Maintenance Fee
A customs bond is required for any commercial import valued over $2,500, and CBP requires one for all food imports regardless of value because they fall under other agencies’ requirements.15U.S. Customs and Border Protection. When Is a Customs Bond Required If you import regularly, a continuous bond is more practical than a single-transaction bond for each shipment; the minimum continuous bond amount is $50,000. For a single-transaction bond on food products, CBP requires the bond to equal at least three times the total entered value of the shipment, because failure to redeliver could pose a public health risk.16U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Monetary Guidelines for Setting Bond Amounts A surety company or customs broker can arrange the bond, usually for an annual premium that’s a fraction of the face value.
What Happens at the Port of Entry
When your shipment arrives, it moves through a sequenced multi-agency review. Your customs broker (or you, if self-filing) notifies CBP and the relevant USDA agencies. CBP reviews the entry documents and verifies identity. APHIS confirms that animal health requirements for the country of origin are satisfied.
Once CBP clears the entry and APHIS signs off on animal health, the shipment is transferred to a designated FSIS official import inspection establishment for reinspection.17Food Safety and Inspection Service. FSIS Guidance for Importing Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products Into the United States These are specific FSIS-approved facilities, not any warehouse at the port. Your shipment must physically go to one of them. FSIS inspectors examine the product visually, check container integrity, verify labels against their approved files, and pull samples for laboratory testing. This is where labeling errors, temperature abuse during transit, and contamination get caught.
Reinspection ends one of three ways: the product is released for domestic sale, detained for additional testing, or refused entry. Once duties and fees are paid on a released shipment, you can distribute the product.
If Your Shipment Is Refused
If FSIS refuses your shipment, you have 45 days to export the product back out, have it destroyed, or convert it to animal food. Egg products get 30 days. All three options cost money, and you bear the full expense — destruction fees, re-export shipping, and cold storage during the waiting period add up quickly.
The exposure goes beyond one lost load. Violations of federal meat import laws can result in criminal penalties. The Federal Meat Inspection Act treats import violations as criminal offenses, with historical penalty provisions providing for fines and imprisonment. An experienced customs broker who handles meat specifically is worth the cost, because the margin for error across APHIS permits, FSIS labeling approval, FDA prior notice, and CBP entry paperwork is narrow enough that a single missed requirement can derail an entire shipment.