---
title: "FDA OASIS and the Import Refusals Report for animal feed and pet food"
author: codebuddy
type: article
series: enforcement-recalls
desc: "What the US FDA's OASIS import system and the public Import Refusals Dashboard mean for animal-feed/pet-food imports: the 9 product categories, 5 import divisions, the FD&C Act §801 basis, the 90-day export-or-destroy rule, and the core refusal charge codes."
source_topics: fda_oasis_import_refusals_dashboard_animal_feed_2026, fda_oasis_refusals_microbiological_adulteration_salmonella_listeria_2026, fda_oasis_refusals_veterinary_drug_residues_and_new_animal_drugs_2026, fda_oasis_refusals_filthy_decomposed_substances_and_foreign_matter_2026, fda_oasis_refusals_chemical_contaminants_mycotoxins_histamine_2026, fda_oasis_refusals_misbranding_and_labeling_requirements_2026, fda_oasis_refusals_insanitary_manufacturing_and_haccp_violations_2026, fda_oasis_refusals_diseased_animals_unapproved_additives_and_miscellaneous_2026, fda_oasis_refusals_temporal_trends_dashboard_api_access_and_data_retrieval_2026
date: 2026-08-18
---

# FDA OASIS and the Import Refusals Report for animal feed

**OASIS** (Operational and Administrative System for Import Support) is the US FDA's core business system for processing all FDA-regulated imports. Its public companion, the **Import Refusals Dashboard**, lets the public query historical refusal data by product category — including **Animal Feed (which includes pet food)**. The **IRR (Import Refusals Report) is updated monthly** (the dashboard itself weekly).

## Structure of the dashboard

- **Three tabs:** Graphs · Data Table · Download Dataset (entire or filtered).
- **Nine product categories**, one of which is **Animal Feed (incl. pet food)** — alongside Cosmetics, Devices, Drugs and Biologics, Housewares & Food Related, Human Foods, Radiological Health, Tobacco Products, and All Refusals.
- **Five Import Divisions** (post the 2017-05-15 Program Alignment that moved FDA from Districts to Divisions):
  - **DNEI** — Northeast (New York / Philadelphia / Boston)
  - **DNBI** — Northern Border (Detroit / Buffalo)
  - **DSEI** — Southeast (Miami / Atlanta)
  - **DSWI** — Southwest (Houston / Dallas)
  - **DWCI** — West Coast (Los Angeles / San Francisco)

## Legal basis and the refusal clock

- The refusal standard rests on **FD&C Act Section 801 (21 USC §381)** — the "appearance" standard for imported articles.
- Refused articles **must be exported or destroyed within 90 days** after refusal.

## Core refusal charge codes (pet-food relevant)

The official Refusal Charges Reference CSV contains **306 charge codes** covering the FD&C Act violation dictionary. The codes that matter for pet food:

| Code | Meaning | Applies to |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **FILTHY** | Product visibly filthy, decomposed or otherwise unfit | Animal-origin ingredients |
| **SALMONELLA** | Detection of pathogenic microorganisms | Pet-food ingredients |
| **VETDRUGRES** | Prohibited veterinary-drug residues | Imported pet food |
| **HISTAMINE** | Histamine over-limit (tuna / mahimahi) | Aquatic pet treats |
| **MFR INSAN** | Insanitary manufacturing conditions | Processed pet food |
| **MFRHACCP** | HACCP violation (21 CFR Part 123) | Processed food |
| **FEED & NAD** | Animal feed containing an unapproved new animal drug (§501(a)(6)) | Animal feed |

The eight charge-category slices in this repository (microbiological / veterinary-drug residues / filthy-decomposed-foreign-matter / chemical-contaminants-mycotoxins-histamine / misbranding / insanitary-HACCP / diseased-animals-unapproved-additives / temporal-trends) each document one of these refusal families.

## Honest scope note

The dashboard is publicly queryable and monthly-updated, but **line-level refusal counts by product category require querying the dashboard / dataset directly** — this article documents the *framework and charge taxonomy*, not a counted refusal total, because the per-category totals live behind the live IRR dataset rather than in a static first-hand extract available here.

## Sources

- `fda_oasis_import_refusals_dashboard_animal_feed_2026` — OASIS/IRR definitions, 9 categories, 5 divisions, FD&C §801, 90-day rule, 306 charge codes, core pet-food violation codes.
- `fda_oasis_refusals_microbiological_adulteration_salmonella_listeria_2026`, `…_veterinary_drug_residues_and_new_animal_drugs_2026`, `…_filthy_decomposed_substances_and_foreign_matter_2026`, `…_chemical_contaminants_mycotoxins_histamine_2026`, `…_misbranding_and_labeling_requirements_2026`, `…_insanitary_manufacturing_and_haccp_violations_2026`, `…_diseased_animals_unapproved_additives_and_miscellaneous_2026`, `…_temporal_trends_dashboard_api_access_and_data_retrieval_2026` — the eight refusal charge-category slices documenting each family.