The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service rule which covers all ruminant imports, including haggis, is currently being reviewed, according to an emailed statement from the department to the Informa publication Agra Europe.
According to APHIS, the review aims "to incorporate the current risk and latest science related to these regulations."
At this time, haggis is still banned in the United States, however many believe the review is the first step towards opening the U.S. market to traditional Scottish haggis.
However, recent reports that the United States is about to lift a ban on British beef and lamb –– imposed in 1989 at the height of the United Kingdom's outbreak of mad cow disease –– were premature, USDA stressed.
"Recently, several news articles have incorrectly stated that the United States will be relaxing or lifting its ban on Scottish haggis," said a USDA spokeswoman. A review of the ban on beef and lamb products was under way, she said, but there was no specific time frame for its completion.
APHIS veterinarian Christopher Robinson says that a proposal to allow imports of "ruminant products" from the U.K. may be put out for public consultation some time this year, but nothing more definite than that has been confirmed.
To open the path for transatlantic trade in true haggis, APHIS would need to change two of its rules, and only one is currently being reviewed.
The classic haggis recipe calls for the heart, liver and lung of the sheep to be chopped up and combined with pinhead (not rolled) oats, onions, suet, spices and seasoning, then stuffed in a sheep's stomach and boiled in water.
