Baltimore CBP Intercepts Chicken Skeletons from China for Potential Threat of HPAI
CBP agriculture specialists in Baltimore issued an Emergency Action Notification to a Manassas, Va., importer about seven boxes of chicken skeletons from China, CBP said Aug. 15. The CBP notification required that the seven boxes be re-exported or destroyed, due to concerns that the “uncertified skeletons may pose a potential threat” of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza to the U.S. poultry industry.
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CBP said the skeletons arrived by sea starting with one shipment of six boxes on July 5, which included “10 skeletons in boxes and 20 skeletons with chicks in display cases.” The second shipment included 12 skeletons. While some were packaged in display cases, others were shipped with research and educational equipment such as microscopes and test tubes, CBP said.
Susan Thomas, the acting CBP port director for the Port of Baltimore, said “federal law requires an import and health certificate” for most animal products imported into the U.S. “due to the potential threat of foreign animal diseases that could threaten U.S. agriculture and our economy.”