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NSFS reference: 13
Issue date: 4 November 2021
Date of effect: Immediate
Review date: 1 December 2023
Contacts:
Operational Integrity, Export Meat Program
Exports and Veterinary Services Division
exportmeatoperations@awe.gov.au
Export Standards Branch,
Exports and Veterinary Services Division
exportstandards@awe.gov.au
Purpose
To inform export registered establishments eligible to produce meat and meat products for the United States of America (USA) of the agreed process available to confirm illegible and missing shipping mark discrepancies identified at the point of entry.
From 30 November 2021, The Department’s facilitated manual remarking of illegible, missing, and incorrect cartons in the USA will cease (see MAA2154). From this time, illegible or missing shipping marks will only be able to be corrected through Meat Messaging.
This meat notice replaces meat notice 2018/01.
Scope
This notice applies to export registered meat and meat product establishments listed for export to the USA requiring a protocol for the remarking of cartons where shipping marks are missing or illegible.
This notice only applies to the confirming of shipping marks on labels to align with their export health certificate. Any amendment to an export health certificate must still be directed to the department.
Definitions
The following table defines terms used in this notice.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Barcode | Unique numbering system to identify individual cartons of meat and meat products |
| e Messaging | An electronic message in a prescribed format |
| GS1 | International organisation that develops and maintains standards for supply and demand chains across multiple sectors |
| Inspection Warehouse | A receiving warehouse in the USA approved by the US FSIS, which is able to access the meat messaging web portal, can view the despatch advice message (DESADV), and scan the cartons in the load on arrival in the US to verify and identify a missing, incorrect or illegible shipping mark. |
| Meat Messaging Web Portal | Is an industry portal that supports manual preparation as well as integration with system vendors solutions for creation, sending, receiving, attestation statements and compliance declaration. The system assists with reconciling unique cartons within a load of product exported from Australia for import into the United States of America. |
| Shipping mark | Unique number used to identify lots within a container that relates those lots to the health certificate(s) |
| SSCC | Serial Shipping Container Code |
Background
The USA requires that a unique shipping mark is applied to all shipments of edible meat and meat products for import to the USA. Shipping mark details are included on the health certificate and are used to support the identification and traceability of the meat and meat products.
One of the more common reasons for the rejection of exported edible meat and meat products to the USA is due to missing, incorrect, or illegible shipping marks. In these instances, FSIS has allowed for the competent authority of the exporting country, or their agent, to remark impacted cartons at the exporters’ expense.
FSIS has notified the Department that it is their preference to treat cartons with incorrect shipping marks as a health-certificate non-compliance. As Meat Messaging has not been approved as a means of amending incorrect shipping marks, the department is unlikely to be in a position to facilitate the clearance of affected consignments.
In 2015, FSIS released FSIS Notice 41-15, then FSIS Notice 81-16, which approved the use of barcodes to verify whether containers of imported product with missing or completely illegible shipping marks are part of a lot certified on the accompanying foreign inspection certificate. This notice has been replaced by FSIS Directive 9900.5 Rev 2 dated 21/12/2020, Section VII, E.
Responsibilities
Establishment Management must:
- Register with the Meat Messaging web portal i.e. http://www.meatmessaging.com
- Demonstrate competence in using the Meat Messaging web portal in the test environment in accordance with Attachment 1.
- Update their Approved Arrangement via an EX26b form to include the use of the Meat Messaging web portal and relevant controls.
- Notify the department as soon as they become aware of any issues affecting the integrity of the alternate protocol.
- Ensure that the inspection warehouse has the technology and capability to scan GS1 barcodes and access the reports from the portal.
- Ensure the establishment has GS1 barcoding, the Meat Messaging System and a barcode scanner.
Departmental on-plant officers will:
- Provide establishment management with a copy of this Meat Notice (MN).
- Verify the establishment responsibilities and actions of this MN (as relevant) have been included in the occupier’s Approved Arrangement.
Departmental Auditors (Food Safety Auditors or Area Technical Managers) will:
- Review the occupier’s Approved Arrangement.
- Approve or not approve the arrangement as per their findings.
- Notify by email to exportestablishmentregistration@awe.gov.au, that the establishment has met the requirements of this MN and request that the appropriate overseas operation be added to the establishment registration.
- Verify through audit at least once per year that the occupier is complying with this MN.
Export Registration database administrators will:
- Update the establishment registration to include US Bar Coding (USBC).
- Notify the US of the establishment’s approval and request that the share-point website be updated.
- Request the US to advise when the share point website has been updated with the approved establishment details.
- Issue an updated Certificate of Registration to the establishment showing USBC under Overseas Operations.
Adam Balcerak
Director
Export Meat Program
Meat Messaging Protocol for Missing or Illegible Shipping Marks
The establishments that are in compliance with the GS1 standard for barcodes will number each carton/carcase in series that they produce through the application of that barcode. This allows the individual cartons/carcases in every load to be uniquely identified.
The establishment will scan cartons/carcases at the point of despatch, using the information to generate the Request for Permit and Health Certificate. The establishment should then send a separate commercial electronic despatch advice message containing the cartons/carcases serial numbers to the industry supported Meat Messaging web portal. The Inspection Warehouse in the US will verify the contents of the load and identify missing or illegible shipping marks.
If the cartons/carcases are verified as being part of the certified load, and are correct against the electronic despatch advice message, then a receipt message is generated and sent electronically via the meat messaging portal. An email should be sent to the on-site FSIS inspector who will check with the FSIS share-point web site to ensure that the exporting plant is approved. When satisfied, the FSIS inspector approves the cartons to be remarked under the FSIS inspectors general supervision.
Carton labelling requirements
A GS1 compliant barcode is required to be used on the carton/carton labels to be able to access the Meat Messaging System.
Uploading the load out scan file
The establishment must be able to up-load the load-out files to the web portal in the required format.
Approved Arrangement preparation and amendment
To demonstrate compliance with the Meat Messaging System, the establishment must:
- Send 10 test messages to the Meat Messaging web portal test database at http://www.meatmessaging.com
- Conduct a review of those messages to ensure that they can access and use the Meat Messaging portal correctly.
- Print off the 10 review reports and submit with the amendments to the AA as proof that they are compliant.
The Approved Arrangement for the establishment must:
- State that they are compliant with the GS1 standards around the use of barcoding.
- Have a system in place to upload to the web portal the load out scan files for all loads to the US in the required format.
- Include within the AA the verification of the collection and uploading of accurate information into the meat messaging web portal through an independently collected scan file.
The amendment must be approved by the department prior to the establishment being allowed access to the production (live) part of the Meat Messaging web portal.
Registration amendment
The establishment will need to provide an EX26b form for the amendments to their approved arrangement along with their statement of compliance with the Meat Messaging System to their departmental auditor. Once the establishment’s amendments are approved the auditor will notify the department’s central office via an email to exportestablishmentregistration@awe.gov.au. The Establishment Register (ER) will then be updated with US Bar Coding (USBC) in the Overseas Operations section of the establishment registration.
The department will issue an updated Certificate of Registration to the establishment showing the USBC code under the Overseas Operations section of the establishment registration.
Procedure for each shipment
At Export End
- Apply a GS1 barcode on labelling to identify each individual carton.
- Apply the shipping mark to each carton as per USA requirements to identify a lot/s within the container.
- Each carton is scanned to a Meat Messaging System file identifying the particular shipping mark of the grouping of cartons in preparation for loading into the container.
- Create a data file in the system using GS1 barcode and Meat Messaging as a record of all the cartons identified to a particular shipping mark that is loaded into the container.
- Note: the same data file/s is commonly used to input the loads summary data into the request for an export permit.
- Ensure that the data file/s detailing the load and each unique carton within the shipping mark grouping/s assigned to the load is uploaded to the Meat Messaging web portal and is available to the import warehouse in the USA.
- Note: the upload to the Meat Messaging web portal must occur prior to the departure of the goods as declared on the health certificate.
- Enter the Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) into the exporter comments when applying for an export permit and certificate.
At Import End
- The Inspection Warehouse receives the container and scans the individual cartons, identifying any missing, incorrect, or illegible shipping marks at unloading of the container.
Illegible and Missing Shipping Marks - Remarking Process
Where cartons are identified with illegible or missing shipping marks the:
- The Inspection Warehouse
- uploads the data into the Meat Messaging web portal which generates a verification report that verifies the cartons that should be within the load (Attachment 2).
- notifies the exporter of the goods that a carton verification report has been generated.
- Presents the verification report to the FSIS inspector at the International Warehouse to initiate remarking along with the cartons that have been verified as belonging to the load.
- Inspection Warehouse organises remarking of cartons as per FSIS instruction.
Verified cartons may then be remarked by the import warehouse under US FSIS supervision.
A summary of the overall process from assembling the load through to submitting the application for remarking is shown in Attachment 3.
For more information on the Meat Messaging Web Portal please visit Help and documentation.