NOTE: In this section and the one following on Imports and Exports, we address the movement
of meat and meat products. Movement of live animals in interstate and international trade is
beyond the scope of this project – as states and countries have very rigid and specific
requirements for live animal movement. It is as important to contact the exporting state for the
appropriate health tests required, as it is the importing state to determine what papers are needed.
Please consult the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets for information on
moving live animals for interstate and international trade.
Intrastate refers to transactions within a single state. A sale made from a farmer in
Owego, NY to a customer in Ithaca, NY is an intrastate sale.
Interstate refers to transactions across state lines. This is trade between two states. A sale
made between a farmer in Whitehall, NY and a customer in Rutland, VT is an interstate
sale.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Sanitary Food Transportation Act (SFTA)
of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), has authority over food in interstate commerce
unless the food is regulated by FSIS. Full language for the SFTA is here:
https://www.fda.gov/media/104455/download.
Establishments can apply for federal or state inspection.17 Pursuant to a cooperative agreement
with FSIS, a state can operate its own Meat and Poultry Inspection (“MPI”) program. A state’s
MPI program must enforce requirements that are “at least equal to” the federal standards
contained in the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the
regulations implementing these laws, and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act of 1978. Under
federal law, meat and poultry inspected under a state program are limited to intrastate commerce,
unless the state also participates in an additional, separate cooperative program called the
Cooperative Interstate Shipment Program. Indiana, Maine, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin
were the five states participating in this program in 2018.18
In contrast, non-amenable meat from state licensed 5-A plants is eligible for sales in all states,
including states with state inspection programs. Just because it is eligible for sale does not
guarantee that it is legally allowed to be sold in a particular state. State or local health codes may
prohibit the sale of state inspected non-amenable meat. When Chronic Wasting Disease was
discovered east of the Mississippi River, many states closed their borders to the sale of not only
live cervids (mammals in the deer family), but also to the meat from these farmed species.
It is up to the producer to know the regulations of the jurisdiction to which he will be shipping
his or her products. It is recommended that the producer call the State Department of Agriculture
and the State Department of Fish and Game (or Natural Resources) to see what products are
legally allowed to be sold in that state, what products are allowed to come into that state and
what, if any, inspections are required for it to do so.
