Can I bring a few cans of meat into the EU? If so, how?

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Accepted answer

To make a long answer short: Don't.

If you want to import meat into the EU from a country not covered by any of the exceptions (fresh, frozen or canned does not matter), the requirements are exactly the same as for commercial shipments. You will need to obtain the required health certificates in advance, fill out a significant amount of paperwork and I also believe it is required to announce your goods in advance. This is not something you want to do for a few boxes of canned meat.

Upvote:-6

An American analogy

To bring a bag of Moroccan clementines from Canada into the US, you might need a biosafety certificate. Such a certificate might be so expensive that it's not worth getting, unless you're transporting fruit in large commercial quantities.

Certain citrus fruits (e.g. American-grown fruits) may be allowable into the US without a biosafety certificate. But other citrus fruits may not be allowed.

In practice, most people just throw any forbidden citrus fruits into a garbage can at the customs office.

The problem

I'm not very familiar with European laws, and I also may have some anti-meat bias. Still, my hunch is that it's probably much easier to just leave your canned meat at home than to try to import it into the EU.

Possible workarounds

Perhaps you could order identical or similar canned meat from a vendor somewhere in the EU, and have them mail it to Germany.

Alternatively, maybe you could buy some European-made canned meat in your hometown, then you could reimport it into the EU. I wonder if the customs officer might be more lenient in a case of reimportation.

Conclusion

If you've looked into the above possibilities, please edit your question and tell us what you've discovered. If you find a solution to your meat quandary, please post an answer. :)

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