A Toronto-area international trading firm has been fined $10,000 over an attempt to bring undeclared pigs’ legs from China into Canada.
A guilty plea was entered Jan. 9 on behalf of Merilin International Trading Inc. for violating federal animal health regulations, connected to the import of 1,600 kg of pork legs from China, not declared on import documents.
Chinese pork legs are banned by law from entering Canada, because China is not considered free from reportable diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a release Wednesday.
“The 1952 (FMD) outbreak in the Canadian Prairies cost an estimated $722 million as well as a year of lost livestock and product-related trade,” CFIA wrote. “The outbreak was traced back to imported sausage fed to pigs.”
That said, CFIA noted there was no indication this shipment was infected with any foreign animal disease.
The pork legs, shipped in 100 cartons, were spotted by the Canadian Border Services Agency during a routine inspection in Burnaby, B.C., CFIA said.
