It's not just which country at a given time, but which part of the country. The one time I had a can of foie gras confiscated was during a bird flu outbreak in France. The agriculture officer spent several minutes showing me the memo which enumerated which areas of France were infected. It wasn't possible to determine from the label exactly where the foie gras was from, so he erred on the side of caution.
At least I didn't get fined, as I had declared what I was bringing in.
Originally Posted by
milepig
I can see why its easier to just say "no meat". Here's the information from the website:
The regulations governing meat and meat products are stringent. You may not import fresh, dried or canned meats or meat products from most foreign countries into the United States. Also, you may not import food products that have been prepared with meat.
The regulations on importing meat and meat products change frequently because they are based on disease outbreaks in different areas of the world. APHIS, which regulates meats and meat products as well as fruits and vegetables, invites you to contact them for more information on importing meats. A list of countries and/or regions with specific livestock or poultry diseases can be found at the Animal Disease Status page. ( Animal Disease Status )
[bolding mine]
If you click through to the "Animal Disease Status" page you'll find a list of about 12 categories of diseases - including "African Horse Sickness" and long lists of areas under each of them. I don't see how anyone could quickly determine "meat from France is OK this month".