Importation of Hatching Eggs: USDA

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Importation of Hatching Eggs: USDA

With all the recent hype about imported poultry and many on various forums wanting to know how to import hatching eggs, I thought this would be helpful. Please be careful of what you post. The moderators will be watching!

This is not the place to dish anyone. Just to discuss the proper and legal method of importing Poultry Hatching Eggs.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/animals/live_animals.shtml

The health certificates that accompany hatching egg shipments must indicate that:
• Flocks of origin for the hatching eggs were not vaccinated against any H5 or H7 subtype of avian influenza.
• The shipment will not transit through any regions where APHIS considers highly pathogenic avian influenza to exist, as listed here on this web page.
• The flocks of origin have been vaccinated against Newcastle disease (avian paramyxovirus) at least 21 days prior to export, using vaccines that do not contain any velogenic strains of Newcastle disease virus. OR:
• The flocks of origin have not been vaccinated against Newcastle disease.

Contact Us:
If you have any questions, or require further information related to imports or export of live animals, birds or germplasm, please contact National Center for Import and Export at (301) 734-8364, or send an email to [email protected].

Poultry Hatching Eggs


http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/animals/poultry_eggs.shtml


Procedures for Importing Poultry Hatching Eggs into the United States

ADVISORY: Until further notice, there is a ban on the importation of all live avian species from Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cambodia, Djibouti, Egypt, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire), Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestinian Autonomous Territories, People's Republic of China, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sudan, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam

The U.S. Department of Agricultrue defines poultry as chickens, doves, ducks, geese, grouse, guinea fowl, partridges, pea fowl, pheasants, pigeons, quail, swans, and turkeys (including hatching eggs of these species).

Requirements
•All hatching eggs of poultry imported into the United States must be accompanied by a USDA import permit VS Form 17-129 (except through a land border port from Canada).
•Current veterinary health certificate issued by a full-time salaried veterinarian of the agency responsible for animal health of the national government in the exporting country of origin.

Flock of origin veterinary health certification statements

The health certificate must be in English or a complete English translation must be provided. The veterinary health certificate must accompany the hatching eggs while in transit and must state that:
•the flock or flocks of origin were found upon inspection to be free from evidence of communicable diseases of poultry;
•no exotic Newcastle disease has occurred on the premises of origin or on adjoining premises during the 90 days immediately preceding the date of movement of the eggs from such region; and
•as far as it has been possible to determine, such flock or flocks were not exposed to such disease during the preceding 90 days.

The flock of origin of hatching eggs imported from all countries except Canada are required to test serologically negative for egg drop syndrome (adenovirus 127), test negative on environmental culture for Salmonella enteritidis, and test serologically negative for viral turkey rhinotracheitis (avian pneumovirus) by a government approved laboratory. The flock of origin of hatching eggs from chicken-like poultry imported from Canada must be under a surveillance program similar to that of the USDA's National Poultry Improvement Plan.

The health certificates that accompany hatching egg shipments must indicate that:
•Flocks of origin for the hatching eggs were not vaccinated against any H5 or H7 subtype of avian influenza.
•The shipment will not transit through any regions where APHIS considers highly pathogenic avian influenza to exist, as listed here on this web page.
•The flocks of origin have been vaccinated against Newcastle disease (avian paramyxovirus) at least 21 days prior to export, using vaccines that do not contain any velogenic strains of Newcastle disease virus. OR:
•The flocks of origin have not been vaccinated against Newcastle disease.
•Some hatching eggs are required to be quarantined for a minimum of 30 days upon entry into the United States.
•FDA Imported food requirement

Requirements for importing poultry hatching eggs differ for eggs being imported from countries designated and free of exotic Newcastle disease (END) than those not designated as free of END.

Poultry hatching eggs imported from countries designated as free of END
•The following countries are considered by the USDA to be free of exotic Newcastle disease: Australia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Denmark, Fiji, Finland, France, Greece, Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man), Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
•Hatching eggs imported from these countries are not required to be quarantined. However, the hatching eggs must be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate issued by a national government veterinarian of the exporting country as well as by a USDA import permit (see exception for Canada below).

Poultry hatching eggs imported from countries not designated as free of END

In addition to the required veterinary health certificate and USDA import permit, importation of hatching eggs from countries not designated by the USDA to be free of END are restricted as follows:
•Eggs must be transported from the port of entry to the hatchery in a vehicle sealed by the USDA.
•Eggs must be hatched and brooded under the supervision of the Area Veterinarian in Charge (AVIC) in the State of destination. The hatchery must meet certain biosecurity standards and be inspected and approved by the AVIC prior to issuance of the import permit.
•The poultry from such eggs must remain in quarantine for not less than 30 days following hatch.
•During quarantine, the hatching eggs and poultry from such eggs are subject to any inspections, disinfections, and diagnostic testing as may be required by the USDA to determine their freedom from communicable diseases of poultry.

Poultry hatching eggs imported from Canada

Poultry hatching eggs imported from Canada must be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate issued by a Canadian government veterinarian. However, no quarantine is required for hatching eggs of Canadian origin. Those hatching eggs imported through a U.S.-Canadian land border port do not require a USDA import permit, whereas eggs entering the United States from Canada via air do require a USDA import permit.

The import permit application (VS Form 17-129) can be downloaded from the Internet at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/forms.shtml or by contacting us at:
USDA, APHIS, VS
National Center for Import and Export
4700 River Road, Unit 39
Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 734-8364 Telephone
(301) 734-6402 Fax

Fish and Wildlife Service Permit Information
In the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulates the importation of avian species (including their hatching eggs) protected by various national and international acts and treaties such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992, the Migratory Bird Act, and the Endangered Species Act. To determine if the hatching eggs you wish to import are regulated by the USFWS, you can visit their web site at: http://permits.fws.gov/ or contact them at USFWS, Office of Management Authority, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 420, Arlington, VA 22203, (800) 358-2104 (within the United States), or (703) 358-2104.

Please visit the FWS web site at: http://permits.fws.gov/ to obtain more information and the permit application. If you have questions you can contact the FWS at (800) 358-2104. Overseas calls should be placed to (703) 358-2104.

How to Contact Us

If you need additional materials about importing hatching eggs of poultry or other birds into the United States, please contact us at:
USDA, APHIS, VS
National Center for Import and Export
4700 River Road, Unit 39
Riverdale, MD 20737
(301) 734-8364 Telephone
(301) 734-6402 Fax​
 
by the time you can get them in they will be duds...........
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I would like to import hatching eggs from Spain. That's an END free country, no quarantine required. I was asked to help drafting the veterinary health certificate so the vet would not have to do it from scratch. I also would like to know how the USDA import permit needs to be filled in. Anybody have any experience? Maybe willing to email an example? Otherwise I'll have to scratch the idea
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Several years ago, I was interested in importing hatching eggs from Rodriguez Poultry in Spain. I wanted some Cara Blancas, but the process was just too complicated and expensive.

Good luck with your project if you decide to go through with it. And if you do get any Cara Blancas hatched out, I might be interested in buying some.

Rufus
 
All I can say is "Wow"!
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I was wanting to import some Orpington hatching eggs from the UK. We have a friend that lives in England, we thought she could find some people that would be willing to send us some hatching eggs but after reading this...
roll.png


Do you know how much it would cost to import some eggs?

~ Aspen
caf.gif
 
Mrs. Fluffy Puffy :

All I can say is "Wow"!
ep.gif
th.gif


I was wanting to import some Orpington hatching eggs from the UK. We have a friend that lives in England, we thought she could find some people that would be willing to send us some hatching eggs but after reading this...
roll.png


Do you know how much it would cost to import some eggs?

~ Aspen
caf.gif


To do it legally it is very expensive. But to do it illegally may be more expensive. One rare disease (like "egg drop syndrome ") imported with hatching eggs could destroy the entire poultry industry, not just backyard and exhibition birds. Yesterday I was asked to substitute teach for our local Vo-Ag teacher. Many of the students were from poultry industry farms. What if I had a rare disease on my shoes from my coops? It would have been easy to pass it on to their shoes. We all come in contact with the commercial industry while at Wal-Mart.

The import rules are there for a reason. Buying "decorative eggs" on ebay from other countries and hatching them could cost us all millions. I admire Marc for paying the import fees on his Orpingtons.​
 
Mrs. Fluffy Puffy :

All I can say is "Wow"!
ep.gif
th.gif


I was wanting to import some Orpington hatching eggs from the UK. We have a friend that lives in England, we thought she could find some people that would be willing to send us some hatching eggs but after reading this...
roll.png


Do you know how much it would cost to import some eggs?

~ Aspen
caf.gif


Mrs. Fluffy Puffy, check out my website (under animals/chickens/import). I imported eggs from Europe in July and have an extensive description of current procedures and costs. It's not just the money, it's the whole thing that can cause you a nervous breakdown! I will not likely do this again - or I will hire a shrink ahead of time
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. But it's doable. Depends greatly on help in Europe or the willingness of the seller to jump through a bunch of hoops.
Under no circumstances should you import eggs illegally! There is a good reason why imports are that restricted. USDA agents are for the most part VERY helpful I found out when I imported. Call them and talk about your concerns.​
 
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Another source is Greenfire Farms. I would dearly love to have Cream Legbars, but I don't have the resources (ie $) to import and Greenfire has invested a huge amount of money in to their imports and thusly need to recoup their expenses by passing the cost of their investment along to the buyer. Day old female chicks a mere $99 each. A bargain if I had the money to purchase them! http://greenfirefarms.com/breeding-programs/
 
Quote:
Looked over ca's website at http://www.widgetcreekranch.com/import.html Wonderful information. Very helpful!

IMPORTING EGGS FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES - INTRODUCTIONWidget Creek Ranch has successfully imported Sulmtaler hatching eggs from Europe. The process is extremely involved and also quite expensive. For the inexperienced person this was a very hard task to do. Although we do not recommend trying this we still want to explain the procedure and possible pitfalls here in case somebody is looking for this information.



Regulations and import restrictions do change quite frequently so it is imperative to always search for updated information at USDA. This particular import was attempted in June/July 2011 and might not be accurate anymore.



The United States Department of Agriculture is trying to keep poultry diseases existing elsewhere from entering the United States. This causes the process of importing hatching eggs (let alone live animals!) to be very difficult. But it has also kept our flocks from being infected with foreign diseases. Penalties for illegally importing eggs and/or animals are severe and would undermine the USDA’s attempt of keeping foreign pathogenic organisms out of the country!

Here is the main information page:



POULTRY HATCHING EGGS IMPORT



You will also notice that certain countries are excluded and others will be excluded due to quarantine requirements that will essentially destroy hatching eggs.



So here a closer look at the process:



Documents needed to accompany the shipment are

•The USDA Import Permit
•The Veterinary Health Certificate
•The shipper (FedEx in this case) will have other documents that are necessary such as declaration of substances or chemicals etc. These are fairly easy to complete.
•Invoice for Customs

The permit needs to be requested at least 10 days in advance. The cost for the permit is $141. An amendment to the permit is $70. The application is fairly easy to fill out and can be found here:



Import Permit Application VS 17-129 & Import Permit Application Instructions



Possible Pitfalls:

•Arrival date is NOT the date you expect the shipment at your door. It is the date when he shipment will be at the port of entry to the USA.
•You need to find out the flight number, arrival time and port of entry (first airport or seaport your shipment gets into). This can be extremely difficult. We were not able to get this information from FedEx despite literally dozens of phone calls in several countries and locations. Therefore we had to get last second amendments and anxiety attacks.


Numbers to call: USDA APHIS VS Program Office at 301-734-3277. Dr. Cooper at this office approves permits.

Upon receipt of the permit call the port of entry and let them know when the eggs are arriving!




USDA IMPORT PERMITThe Veterinary Health Certificate is a form written by anybody but needs to contain all the necessary information. Information on the APHIS website might not be complete! The Import Permit will contain a complete list of requirements needed for this form. Except by the time you receive the permit it might be too late to amend the Veterinary Health Certificate because it needs to be signed by a government veterinarian that inspects the flock of origin.



Our example that made it through is shown here (this is not the signed version, these are just the requirements):



Veterinary Health Certificate



Possible Pitfalls:

•The flock of origin has to be tested (and found to be negative) for
•egg drop syndrome (adenovirus 127)
•Salmonella enteritidis
•viral turkey rhinotracheitis (avian pneumovirus)
•Testing may be difficult as these diseases are not necessarily common in the country of origin. Testing can also be prohibitively expensive as you pay by the bird!


For this you will need a warm body in the country of origin that can arrange for the testing.




VETERINARY HEALTH CERTIFICATEFinding a Shipper can be very difficult. Not all shippers will ship fertilized eggs and not all shippers can accommodate the speed necessary for the eggs. UPS for example did not accept hatching eggs in our case.



A lot of research will be necessary to find the best solution. The best solution will likely not be ideal but very expensive.



Possible Pitfalls:

•The shipper might give you an arrival port. Call SEVERAL offices to make sure you do not get a different answer every time. Even then it is likely that you will end up with the wrong information
•The shipper might not give you flight numbers and arrival times. USDA requires to know 72 hours in advance when the shipment arrives. That is nearly impossible. You will depend on their understanding.
•Make sure the shipper gives you all required documents well in advance. Again do not rely on the information of just one person.
•Make sure whether you need a broker or not (no broker was necessary for shipments with FedEx).​
 

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