Saudi Meat import Laws

Taken from a document detailing Saudia Laws regarding food Imports..


VII. OTHER SPECIFIC STANDARDS AND REQUIREMENTS
A. Certificate of Islamic Slaughter
Per Saudi Arabia Standard No. SSA 630/1990 (Animal Slaughtering Requirements According
to Islamic Law), a Certificate of Islamic Slaughter must be issued for all meat and poultry
products entering the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This certificate issued by Islamic institutions
recognized by the Saudi Embassy or Consulates in the United States. Information related to
the approved Islamic institutions may be obtained from the Saudi Embassy in Washington or
the nearest Saudi Consulate (New York, Houston, or Los Angeles). Such certificates contain
language certifying Islamic slaughter. The following language was taken from a recently
issued Islamic Slaughtering certificate issued in the United States:

“ This is to certify that an Islamic representative inspected the above
slaughter facility. The healthy animals/and or/poultry were inspected within
12 hours previous to slaughter by the United States Department of Agriculture
official veterinarian. After processing, inspection was made and approved by
the USDA Government Health inspector. Further, the animals and /or poultry were slaughtered under the following statement,

“slaughtered and processed in the name of God, the Almighty, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, God is Greatest.” Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim-Allahu Akbar. The animals and /or poultry covered by this certificate were slaughtered by means of a sharp knife, cutting through the skin, jugular vein, and trachea, to result in thorough bleeding of the carcass in preparation for dressing and evisceration.

GAIN Report - SA6008 Page 16 of 30
UNCLASSIFIED USDA Foreign Agricultural 16 Service

C. Frozen Chickens
SSA 117/1979 deals with frozen chickens standard. Per the regulation, imported frozen
chickens must meet the Islamic slaughtering requirements mentioned above. The standard
also calls for salmonella testing for imported frozen chickens. If the result of the test is
positive in more than one sample out of five samples tested, the whole shipment is rejected.

D. Animal Feed Requirements:
In 2001, the Saudi Ministry of Commerce issued a new requirement for poultry meat, beef
and further processed meat and poultry products imports to the Kingdom. This directive
requires that health certificates for imported poultry, and beef products clearly indicate that
the animal slaughtered was not fed animal protein, animal fats, or animal by-products
before it is allowed entry into the Kingdom. In January 2006, the Kingdom implemented a
two-certificate approach for U.S. poultry and bovine meat products exports. The two-stage
approach consists of: (1) an official FSIS export certificate and (2) a producer or
manufacturer self-certification to cover any additional requirements not related to food
safety or animal health. These requirements have sharply reduced imports of U.S. livestock
and poultry meat and products to the Kingdom.

Source