UPDATE: Import Alert: Restrictions on Avian Commodities Originating from or Transiting France

UPDATE: Import Alert: Restrictions on Avian Commodities Originating from or Transiting France  

Issuance Date: January 17, 2025 

                          2:50 PM, U.S. Eastern 

Effective date: January 27, 2025  

NOTE: On October 1, 2023, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Veterinary Services (VS) restricted importation of avian commodities originating from or transiting France in response to France vaccinating against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). This import alert provides updated restrictions for avian commodities originating from or transiting through France. For information on restrictions specific to duck commodities originating from or transiting through certain other European countries, please see the import alert entitled “UPDATE: Import Alert: Restrictions on Duck Commodities Originating from or Transiting the APHIS-defined European Poultry Trade Region (Excluding Great Britain), Bulgaria, Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.”  

Live avian restrictions: Effective January 27, 2025, and until further notice, APHIS VS is partially lifting restrictions imposed due to France’s HPAI vaccination program. Specifically, APHIS VS will now permit the importation of poultry (as defined by the World Organisation for Animal Health) from France that have not been vaccinated for HPAI, as well as hatching eggs and day-old avians that are not derived from flocks vaccinated against HPAI. Importation of poultry that are vaccinated for HPAI and live avian commodities derived from vaccinated flocks remains prohibited. Live poultry must continue to meet all applicable requirements for importation from the APHIS-defined European Poultry Trade Region.   

Animal product and by-products restrictions: Effective January 27, 2025, and until further notice, APHIS VS is partially lifting restrictions imposed due to France’s HPAI vaccination program. Avian (bird, poultry, among others) products and byproducts originating from or transiting the region are subject to HPAI-related import restrictions, such as those summarized below. Specific restrictions can differ by region and change as additional epidemiologic information becomes available. Details of region-specific import restrictions are available through the Veterinary Services (VS) Permitting Assistant. 

Unprocessed avian products and by-products (including eggs and egg products; meat; and hunter harvested, non-fully finished avian trophies): 

Unprocessed avian products from vaccinated avian species, such as duck, are prohibited. Unprocessed avian products from unvaccinated avian species must be accompanied by a VS import permit and/or government certification. 

Processed avian products and by-products (including eggs and egg products): 

• If arriving as cargo, must be accompanied by a VS import permit and/or government certification confirming that the products or by-products were treated in accordance with APHIS requirements. 

• If arriving in passenger baggage, 

• must appear “thoroughly cooked” throughout (applies only to cooked, perishable poultry meat and poultry meat products and/or cooked, perishable egg/egg products intended for human consumption), OR 

• must be shelf stable as a result of APHIS-approved packaging and cooking (for example, packed in hermetically sealed containers and fully cooked by a commercial method after such packing to produce articles that are shelf stable without refrigeration), OR 

• must be accompanied by a VS import permit and/or government certification confirming that the products or by-products were treated in accordance with APHIS requirements. 

Fresh, unprocessed shell/table eggs and egg products, void of the shell (for example, liquid eggs and dried egg whites) arriving as cargo: Importation from vaccinated avian species is prohibited unless they are consigned from the port of arrival directly to an APHIS-approved breaking and pasteurization facility. An import permit and/or certificate is not required for these shipments if they are consigned directly to an APHIS approved establishment. Importation from unvaccinated avian species must be accompanied by government certification. 

More information  

More information is available on the APHIS website at the links below.   

• Bringing Live Animals and Germplasm into the United States From Another Country (Import),   

• Animal Product Imports, and   

• Avian Influenza: disease, prevention, and control information.