International Traveler: Meats, Poultry, and Seafood

USDA does not allow travelers to bring back most cattle, swine, sheep or goat meat or meat products from countries affected with certain serious livestock diseases:

• Foot-and-mouth disease
• Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
• Swine vesicular disease
• Classical swine fever
• African swine fever

To find out a country’s status for these diseases, visit our animal disease status page.

Travelers may bring back fresh (chilled or frozen), cooked, cured or dried meat from countries without these diseases if they have official documentation to prove the product’s country of origin. The following items are considered official documentation: package label; written documentation; proof of travel (passport or travel itinerary); origin of flight; receipt of sale; CBP document (based on the officer’s interview of the traveler); a meat inspection certificate; or certificate of origin.

Travelers may bring back boneless meat in commercially packaged, labeled, and contained in unopened hermetically sealed containers or packages that are cooked by a commercial method after such packing to produce articles that are shelf-stable without refrigeration.

Travelers may not bring back more than 50 pounds of an item. Shipments larger than 50 pounds are considered commercial shipments and must meet additional requirements through USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. Contact them at (202) 720-9904 or www.fsis.usda.gov.

Cured hams (prosciutto, Serrano ham, Iberian ham) and salami from areas within France, Germany, Italy and Spain may not be brought into the United States by travelers. These items may only enter in commercial shipments because there are special restrictions that require additional certification and documentation.

USDA does not allow travelers to bring back most poultry meat or poultry meat products from countries affected with certain serious poultry diseases:

• Highly pathogenic avian influenza
• Newcastle disease

To find out a country’s status for these diseases, visit our animal disease status page.

Commercially-packaged and labelled, cooked, shelf-stable poultry items from affected countries that are in unopened packages are allowed.  However, travelers may not bring back more than 50 pounds of an item.  Shipments larger than 50 pounds are considered commercial shipments and must meet additional requirements through USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.  Contact them at (202) 720-9904 or www.fsis.usda.gov.

Cooked poultry meat or poultry meat products from affected countries will be inspected by U.S. Customs & Border Protection.  Items appearing to be “thoroughly cooked throughout” will be allowed entry.  Items that do not appear “thoroughly cooked throughout” will not be allowed without special certification and an import permit.

Travelers may bring back fresh (chilled or frozen), cooked, cured or dried poultry meat from countries without these diseases if they have official documentation to prove the product’s country of origin.  The following items are considered official documentation:  package label; written documentation; proof of travel (passport or travel itinerary); origin of flight; receipt of sale; CBP document (based on the officer’s interview of the traveler); a meat inspection certificate; or certificate of origin.

APHIS does not regulate the importation of most seafood items.  We only regulate breaded seafood products, and only if the breading contains animal-origin ingredients (milk, eggs).  Please contact us directly about breaded seafood items.

For all other seafood import questions, contact:

• The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  at 800-358-2104 or www.fws.gov
• The Food and Drug Administration at 301-796-0356 or www.fda.gov