CFIA Texas Screwworm Ban and What It Means for Livestock Imports Under CBSA Release

CFIA Just Blocked Texas Livestock—and the CAD Filing Doesn’t Change

On January 14, 2025, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced temporary import restrictions on livestock originating from or present in Texas within the previous 21 days, following a confirmed New World screwworm detection in a calf. Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, swine—all subject to the ban. The measure is precautionary, and CFIA is coordinating with USDA-APHIS, but the operational consequence for Canadian importers is immediate: animals that would otherwise clear CBSA primary inspection now hit an automatic CFIA refusal.

This is the kind of notice that doesn’t show up in your CAD filing logic. The HS classification for live cattle (0102.29 for most beef breeds, 0102.21 for dairy) hasn’t changed. The tariff treatment under CUSMA Article 3.2 is still duty-free originating. The eManifest ACI cargo reporting requirement is identical. But the animal won’t be released, because CFIA sits upstream of CBSA release authority for all live animals under the Health of Animals Act and the Health of Animals Regulations. If your broker filed the CAD and paid duties at time of accounting, you still own an animal that can’t enter Canada.

OGD Holds Are Not CBSA Holds

Most importers treat CBSA and CFIA as a single gate. They’re not. CBSA administers the Customs Act and collects duties. CFIA administers the Health of Animals Act, the Plant Protection Act, and the Safe Food for Canadians Act. When CFIA refuses entry, CBSA doesn’t override it. The animal is either exported back to the U.S. or destroyed under CFIA supervision, and the importer pays both the export drayage and any CBSA storage or detention fees that accrued during the hold.

We’ve seen this pattern with CFIA seed potato bans, with avian influenza poultry restrictions, and now with screwworm livestock blocks. The CAD itself processes cleanly. Duties post to your K84 statement. The RPP bond reduces on schedule. But the cargo sits at the border because an Other Government Department said no, and CBSA won’t contradict CFIA’s authority over animal health.

If you’re a regular livestock importer, your brokerage team should be monitoring CFIA D-notices and animal health alerts as part of pre-arrival release planning. Most brokers watch CBSA memoranda and tariff updates religiously, but CFIA notices often get missed until the truck is already at Lacolle or Emerson.

Texas Origin and the 21-Day Window

CFIA’s restriction applies to animals that originated in Texas or were physically present in Texas within 21 days prior to crossing the Canadian border. That’s a longer lookback than most SPS measures. If a calf was born in Oklahoma, moved to a Texas feedlot for ten days, then shipped to a Kansas auction yard before export to Canada, CFIA will refuse entry even if the animal left Texas two weeks ago.

The 21-day incubation window is specific to New World screwworm biology. Cochliomyia hominivorax lays eggs in open wounds, and larvae hatch within 24 hours, but clinical signs and confirmation can take up to three weeks. CFIA is treating any recent Texas exposure as disqualifying, which means the importer’s usual certificate of origin and health certificate from a USDA-accredited veterinarian won’t be sufficient if Texas appears anywhere in the animal’s recent movement history.

This creates a documentation problem. CBSA eManifest ACI data for live animals under cargo control includes the shipper’s name, the consignee, and the HS code, but it doesn’t include a detailed movement history. The CFIA import permit (if required) and the USDA health certificate will list the origin state and the inspection location, but if the animal moved between states in the three weeks prior, that history often lives in the seller’s internal records, not the export paperwork. If your U.S. supplier doesn’t volunteer the Texas stop, and CFIA finds it during inspection or trace-back, you own the refusal and the export.

What Happens at Primary Inspection

When a livestock shipment arrives at a Canadian port of entry, CBSA performs a primary inspection and checks for an eManifest ACI transmission and a CFIA import permit (if the commodity requires one). If CFIA has flagged Texas livestock for refusal, the system should generate an automatic referral to CFIA inspection, and the animal is held pending CFIA review.

In practice, the hold notice often arrives after the trucker has already been waved through primary and is waiting at the importer’s facility. CFIA then issues a detention order, the animal is returned to the border or held at an approved quarantine facility, and the importer scrambles to arrange export or disposal. The CAD has already been filed. Duties have already posted. The GST has already hit the importer’s BN15 account. The only thing that didn’t happen is physical release of the animal.

If you import livestock regularly and you use release prior to payment under an RPP bond, the financial security has already been reduced by the full duty and tax amount even though the animal never entered commerce. You’ll need to file a B2 Canada Customs Adjustment Request to reverse the accounting, and CBSA will process the refund on the next K84 cycle, but the bond capacity is tied up in the interim.

The Compliance Angle: CFIA Doesn’t Warn You Twice

CFIA’s temporary restriction is published on the CFIA website and distributed through industry channels, but there’s no automatic email to every importer with a history of livestock entries. If your broker isn’t checking CFIA alerts daily, or if you’re self-filing CADs through the CARM Client Portal without a compliance subscription, you won’t know the ban exists until your shipment is refused.

CFIA treats non-compliance with import restrictions as a serious violation. If you attempt to import a Texas animal after the ban is public, CFIA can issue an administrative monetary penalty (AMP) under the Safe Food for Canadians Act, separate from any CBSA AMPS penalty that might apply for misrepresentation. The penalty schedule for CFIA violations ranges from CAD 500 for minor infractions to CAD 10,000 or more for repeat or egregious cases.

We’ve also seen CFIA flag importers for enhanced inspection on future livestock entries after a refused shipment, which adds 24 to 48 hours to release time and increases the odds of a full physical exam and lab testing. That’s a long-term operational cost that doesn’t show up on the initial refusal notice.

Coordination with Warehouse and Drayage

If you’re moving livestock through Montreal or Vancouver and you use a bonded facility for temporary holding, make sure your warehouse partner is also watching CFIA restrictions. FENGYE LOGISTICS operates a Montreal sufferance warehouse that handles live animal shipments under CFIA supervision, and we coordinate CFIA inspection scheduling and detention hold notices as part of the standard intake process. But if your drayage carrier delivers directly to your farm or feedlot, there’s no intermediate checkpoint, and the first time you learn about a CFIA refusal is when the inspector shows up at your gate.

Texas is a major cattle export state. If your U.S. supplier typically sources from Texas auctions or feedlots, you need to ask them directly whether they can certify zero Texas exposure in the 21 days prior to export. Most suppliers will pivot to Oklahoma, Kansas, or Nebraska sourcing to avoid the ban, but you need that confirmation in writing before the truck rolls.

CFIA has said it will continue to assess the screwworm situation and adjust measures as warranted. If USDA contains the outbreak quickly and declares Texas free of New World screwworm within the next 30 days, CFIA may lift the ban just as fast. If additional cases appear, or if screwworm spreads to adjacent states, CFIA will expand the geographic restriction, and suddenly Louisiana, New Mexico, and Oklahoma livestock are also blocked.

We file CADs for livestock imports weekly, and we’re watching the CFIA feed for updates. If your next shipment touches Texas in any part of its recent history, hold the truck. Get in touch.

Source: CSCB