Ok, here goes��
I'm posting this, so that if anyone wants to bring in any kind of meat in the future, it will save you a lot of grief.
You have to get a "meat permit" from the BAHA. This should be a relatively simple process, but be prepared to keep after them to get it done. I started the process several weeks ago and got it done this week. In theory, it will be waiting for me at customs in Belize City when I get there, if not, I had them send me a copy via email so I could present it when I get there.
In addition to that dance, there has to be evidence of federal inspection of the meat product. Sounds simple right? Not so much. You can't run over to your local grocery store, buy a bunch of steaks and be ok. It either has to be in a package that has the USDA Federal inspection stamp on it, or the meat itself has to be stamped by a federal inspector on the meat with their magic purple ink. Places like Sam's Club, Costco, or grocery stores get their meat from other sources, repackage it and don't have a Federal meat inspector on hand. Their meat is "retail only" and they can't ship it across states lines without the federal inspection status. So in other words, if you go out and buy steaks from any place other than a packing house, you're, pretty much screwed and it would get into the country, period.
The BAHA didn't enlighten me of the federal inspection requirement. I caught it on the permit, two days ago. Oh s#@% oh dear! I still have the steaks from Sam's club, (Future Bar-B-Que) but I had to run down the only Federal inspector in the area, who works at a packing plant and buy steaks from them. The reason, their meat has been inspected by this dude, AKA the meat guru and each package has the "this meat has been inspected by the USDA Federal inspector," on the package.
If you are going to do this, just call around to the various packing plants in your area, until you find one with a Federal inspector and you have that part handled. As far as the BAHA, expect to make several calls, to light a fire under them, to get it done. If you follow those two rules, it's a relatively simple process. Next time I do this, it will be a piece of cake. I wanted to do a follow up to save anyone else a lot of trouble and try to make it easy for you.
On a side note, the good captain better have some honey holes where we can skip rocks off of fish, or one of us may not make it back to shore. *GRIN*
Last edited by Bwana; 02/18/10 09:47 PM.