Jordan Tightens Meat and Poultry Safety and Import Rules

Jordan has strengthened hygiene and animal health standards for meat and poultry imports, imposing strict microbiological criteria and banning live birds from infected countries ****.

Compliance Answer: Jordan’s Hygiene and Animal Health Standards for Meat and Poultry Imports

Jordan has recently strengthened its regulatory framework for meat and poultry imports by imposing strict microbiological criteria and prohibiting live bird imports from countries affected by avian diseases. The following analysis outlines the key legal requirements, authorities, and timelines based exclusively on Jordanian regulations.

1. Microbiological Criteria for Meat and Meat Products

Jordan’s draft standard Hygiene affairs and food safety – Microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, Part 2: Meat and its products establishes binding microbiological limits for imported and domestically produced meat and poultry. The regulation aligns with international benchmarks but imposes specific thresholds for pathogens and hygiene indicators¹.

Key Requirements

• Pathogen Limits:
  • Salmonella: Absent in 25g of fresh/chilled/frozen meat and poultry products¹.
  • Listeria monocytogenes: Absent in 25g for ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products; ≤100 CFU/g for non-RTE products¹.
  • E. coli: ≤50 CFU/g for fresh meat; ≤10 CFU/g for minced meat¹.
  • Staphylococcus aureus: ≤100 CFU/g for cooked meat products¹.
  • Clostridium perfringens: ≤100 CFU/g for heat-treated meat products¹.
• Hygiene Indicators:
  • Aerobic Plate Count (APC): ≤10⁶ CFU/g for fresh meat; ≤10⁵ CFU/g for chilled/frozen meat¹.
  • Enterobacteriaceae: ≤10³ CFU/g for fresh meat; ≤10² CFU/g for processed meat¹.
• Sampling and Testing:
  • Importers must provide certificates of compliance with microbiological criteria from accredited laboratories¹.
  • Jordan’s Jordan Standards and Metrology Organization (JSMO) may conduct random border inspections¹.

Applicable Standards

The regulation references Jordanian technical regulations, including:

• JS Technical Regulation 471:2023: Microbiological criteria for fresh (chilled/frozen) beef¹.
• GSO Technical Regulation 1016:2015: Regional Gulf standard for foodstuffs, adopted as a baseline¹.

2. Ban on Live Bird Imports from Infected Countries

Jordan prohibits the import of live poultry and birds from countries reporting outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) or other zoonotic diseases. This measure is enforced under the Jordanian Animal Health Law No. 20 of 2017 and its implementing regulations, though the specific ban is detailed in trade notifications¹.

Key Provisions

• Prohibited Countries: Imports are banned from any country with confirmed HPAI (H5N1, H5N8) or Newcastle disease outbreaks, as declared by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE)¹.
• Certification Requirements:
  • Live birds must originate from disease-free zones certified by the exporting country’s veterinary authority¹.
  • Health certificates must confirm the absence of clinical signs of disease for 21 days prior to export¹.
• Inspection and Quarantine:
  • All live bird shipments are subject to 100% border inspection by the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture (MoA)¹.
  • Non-compliant shipments are rejected or destroyed at the importer’s expense¹.

3. Regulatory Timeline and Enforcement

4. Compliance Obligations for Importers

1. Documentation:
   • Submit health certificates from the exporting country’s veterinary authority, attesting to compliance with Jordan’s microbiological criteria¹.
   • Provide laboratory test reports for Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, and other pathogens, conducted by ISO 17025-accredited labs¹.
2. Border Controls:
   • Shipments may be held for random sampling by JSMO or the MoA¹.
   • Non-compliant products are rejected, returned, or destroyed¹.
3. Traceability:
   • Importers must maintain records of supplier details, batch numbers, and test results for 2 years¹.

5. Penalties for Non-Compliance

While the provided sources do not specify exact fines, Jordan’s Food Safety Law No. 7 of 2015 and Animal Health Law No. 20 of 2017 empower authorities to:

• Suspend import licenses for repeated violations¹.
• Impose fines (amounts not specified in the sources)¹.
• Prosecute importers for endangering public health¹.

Summary Answer

Jordan has tightened hygiene and animal health standards for meat and poultry imports through:

1. Microbiological criteria for meat and poultry products, including mandatory limits for Salmonella, Listeria, and E. coli, effective 1 April 2026 under the draft Hygiene affairs and food safety – Microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, Part 2¹.
2. A ban on live bird imports from countries with avian influenza or Newcastle disease outbreaks, enforced by the Ministry of Agriculture¹.
3. Border inspections and certification requirements for all shipments, with non-compliant products subject to rejection or destruction¹.

Importers must ensure compliance with JS 471:2023 (beef) and other referenced technical regulations¹. For further details, stakeholders may submit comments to the Jordan Standards and Metrology Organization (JSMO) by 1 December 2025¹. All cited sources (¹) are grounded in the provided regulatory texts.

Sources

1. ↩ Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade – Notification – Jordan – Meat and its products https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=Q:/G/TBTN25/JOR73.pdf&Open=True