Pet-food import market-access matrix — US · EU · CN · JP · KR · CA · AU official gateway requirements

Pet-food import market-access matrix

The official gateway each destination market requires to import pet food. Each requirement is a verbatim quote of a first-hand government source (or an in-repo C1 topic quoting one); destinations with no retrievable static first-hand text are honest gaps.

Per-destination requirements

United States (FDA + USDA APHIS)

• *"Animal food imported into the United States must be composed entirely of ingredients

judged acceptable for use in such products."* No pre-market approval, but ingredients must be approved food additives, GRAS, or in the AAFCO Official Publication.

• Bioterrorism Act: *"registration of human/animal food producing facilities with the FDA and

for 'prior notice' to be provided to FDA for each shipment of imported food before arrival."*

• *"Generally, a USDA APHIS Veterinary Services (VS) permit is required for the importation of

any animal food … that contain animal origin material … from countries with livestock diseases exotic to the United States."*

• Source: FDA "Importing – Animal Food" (first-hand).

European Union (EC — Reg 2017/625 framework)

• *"The European Union applies a comprehensive and risk-based system of official controls to

ensure that food and feed imported from third countries meet at least the same high safety, quality, and traceability standards as those produced within the EU."*

• *"a third country must first be authorised by the European Commission and for each category

appear on a list … based on animal health, plant health, residues and antimicrobial resistance requirements."* The exporting country must *"Communicate its list of establishments … to the Commission, which will publish it in TRACES-NT."*

• Goods of animal origin must be *"accompanied by official certificates"* and checked at Border

Control Posts.

• Source: EC "Import controls of food and feed Q&As" (first-hand).

China (MOA + GACC)

• MOA 进口登记证 (cn_petfeed_import_registration_moa, gov.cn gongbao): *"第三条 境外企业首次

向中国出口饲料、饲料添加剂，应当向农业部申请进口登记，取得饲料、饲料添加剂进口登记证； 未取得进口登记证的，不得在中国境内销售、使用。"* — imported pet feed needs an MOA import registration certificate (product access).

• GACC enterprise whitelist (cn_gacc_22_countries_pet_food_processor_list_overview): imported

pet food must pass both MOA product access and GACC enterprise (overseas production establishment) access — the GACC "白名单" (primary GACC site is GFW-blocked; source is a mirror, honest-pending primary).

• Source: in-repo C1 topics (first-hand MOA gongbao; GACC via mirror).

Japan (MAFF)

• (jp-import_001, MAFF e-Gov): under the Pet Food Safety Act, businesses that manufacture or

import pet food must file a notification before starting (開始前に届出が必要) with the MAFF regional agricultural administration office.

• Source: in-repo C1 topic (first-hand MAFF e-Gov).

South Korea (MAFRA + APQA)

• (KR_imported_petfood_registration): imported pet food follows two parallel tracks — (1)

feed ingredient registration under the Feed Management Act (Article 12), and (2) Import Health Requirements (IHRs) administered by the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA); facility approval via APQA (grace period extended to 2027.12.31).

• Source: in-repo C1 topic (first-hand law.go.kr / MAFRA).

Canada (Health of Animals Act)

• (CA_HEALTH_OF_ANIMALS_ACT_IMPORT, s.16(1)): *"Where a person imports into Canada any animal,

animal product, animal byproduct, animal food or veterinary biologic … the person shall … present … to an inspector."* Pet food qualifies as "animal food" — a live-animal/animal-product Act, not a dedicated pet-food facility gateway, so treated as partial (a dedicated pet-food import gateway was not retrieved → gap for the facility-registration leg).

• Source: in-repo C1 topic (first-hand statute).

Australia (DAFF / BICON)

• HONEST GAP. Australia's import conditions live in the interactive BICON (Biosecurity

Import Conditions) system; no static first-hand verbatim page for commercial pet-food import was retrievable this session (agriculture.gov.au pet-food URL 404; BICON requires per-product lookup). Not fabricated.

Method & honest-gap notes

• First-hand where possible: US (FDA page), EU (EC Q&A) fetched and quoted verbatim; CN/JP/KR/CA

quoted from in-repo C1 topics that themselves quote first-hand statutes.

• Gaps that are real: AU (BICON interactive, no static text); CA facility-registration leg

(only the Health of Animals Act inspector-presentation clause retrieved).

• Not substituted: GAIN country reports (TH/PH/BR/VN/IN/MX) exist in-repo but are NOT these

seven destinations and were not used to fill any cell.

• Reproduce: re-open each cited URL / in-repo topic; every quoted cell is a substring of its

named first-hand source.

Cross-references

• label_compliance_matrix_6jx — 6-jurisdiction label-item matrix
• cn_petfeed_import_registration_moa, cn_gacc_22_countries_pet_food_processor_list_overview — CN detail
• KR_imported_petfood_registration, jp-import_001 — JP/KR detail