The United States and the government of Australia have reached agreement on a protocol for entry of U.S. retorted beef, beef products and beef flavorings (e.g. bouillon cubes or beef paste) to the Australian market.
U.S. companies (slaughterers, fabricators and/or processors of retorted beef and beef products) must be approved under USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS) Export Verification (EV) Program. Eligible products must meet the specified requirements listed in the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Export Library. Only eligible products may be issued an FSIS export certificate.
Under the EV Program, AMS verifies that products meet the specified product requirements through an approved USDA Quality System Assessment or USDA Process Verified Program. These programs ensure that a company's processes are supported by a documented quality management system and are verified through independent, third-party audits.
The Official Listing for the EV Program will be updated to reflect those companies eligible for retorted beef, beef products and beef flavoring exported to Australia. Additional information about this EV Program, including commonly asked questions, and how to apply for AMS Audit Services, is available on the AMS Bovine, Ovine and Caprine Export Verification Programs webpage.
For more information, contact the AMS Livestock and Poultry Program Quality Assessment Division (QAD) at QAD.Auditservice@ams.usda.gov, or AMS Senior Ag Marketing Specialist Steve Ross at Steve.Ross@ams.usda.gov.
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