Egypt Changes US Beef Import Requirements, USDA Says

Egypt recently changed its U.S. beef import requirements when the country “delisted” all but one of U.S. halal certifiers and announced that it is now accepting shipments from U.S. beef facilities that have been approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety Inspection Service, according to a USDA Foreign Agricultural Service notice published May 17. With the change, Egypt approved “only one of the eight U.S. halal certifiers” to certify shipments to Egypt, and “suspended or rejected” the remaining seven “without explanation,” USDA said. The new halal certifying organization is IS EG Halal Certified, based in New Jersey, the report said. "The firm is not known to have a preexisting relationship with the U.S. beef industry or Islamic organizations in the United States," according to the notice. Therefore, USDA said, exporters who ship beef to Egypt should contact the new certifier “directly to clarify certification procedures.” The changes are believed among those in the industry to have taken effect May 1, though the official date was not indicated, according to the report.