(a) No clearance shall be granted to any vessel carrying meat or meat-food products, as defined and classified by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Meat and Poultry Inspection until there have been filed with the port director such copies of export certificates concerning such meat or meat-food products as are required by the pertinent regulations of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Meat and Poultry Inspection (9 CFR part 322). If such certificate has been obtained but is unavailable at the scheduled time of a vessel's departure, the vessel may be cleared on the basis of the receipt of a statement, under the shipper's or shipper's agent's letterhead, certifying the number of boxes, the number of pounds, the product name and the U.S. Department of Agriculture export certificate number that covers the shipment of the product. If such statement has been used as the basis for obtaining vessel clearance, the duplicate of the certificate must be filed with Customs within the time period prescribed by § 4.75.

(b) No clearance shall be granted to any vessel carrying tallow, stearin, oleo oil, or other rendered fat derived from cattle, sheep, swine, or goats for export from the United States, which has not been inspected, passed, and marked by the United States Department of Agriculture, unless the port director is furnished with a certificate by the exporter that the article is inedible.