Cured Pork Ban Lifted by USDA Could Allow New Imports from Italy

U.S. Animal and Plant Heath Inspection Services announced Friday that the USDA ban on the importation of Italian cured pork will be lifted effective May 28th 2013. Many Italian cured meats have never been available in the U.S., and this change will allow small, artisanal producers to export their products, though at this time it is unknown what standards they must meet.

According to the NY Times,

Presently, only about half of Italy’s wide variety of cold cuts are approved for import into the United States, according to Italy’s Association of Meat and Cold Cuts Producers. “Up until now, we could only export seasoned ham, for example, like Parma and San Daniele, and cooked ham or mortadella,” said Davide Calderone, the association’s director.

“We will soon be able to export pancetta, salami, coppa — potentially all the Italian cold cuts with no exception,” he added

From Regulations.gov –

We are advising the public that we have determined that the Italian Regions of Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, and Piemonte and the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano are free of swine vesicular disease. Based on an assessment of the animal health status of these areas, which we made available to the public for review and comment through a previous notice of availability, the Administrator has determined that the importation of pork or pork products from these areas presents a low risk of introducing swine vesicular disease into the United States. This determination is based on our review of the documentation submitted by the Government of Italy in support of its request and the findings of our own animal health risk evaluation.