Built to the standard your guests' safety demands
Serving imported protein means trusting its safety without reservation. Meridian is built to operate within the regulatory and cold-chain standards that govern US-to-Caribbean protein trade—the bar any serious supplier must clear before a single case reaches your kitchen.
What governs the trade
Protein for export moves through a stack of overlapping safeguards—federal inspection, hazard-control systems, destination-country authorization, and a trade framework. This is the bar the trade runs on, and that Meridian is built to source within.
USDA-FSIS inspection
US meat and poultry produced for commerce is inspected under the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service. Federal inspection is the baseline requirement for the trade—an entry ticket, not a differentiator.
HACCP food-safety systems
Federally inspected plants run HACCP plans—identifying hazards and the critical control points that contain them—so safety is engineered into the process, not inspected in at the end.
DR import authorization
Meat and poultry entering the Dominican Republic require DIGEGA sanitary authorization through the VUCE single-window, and food products register via DIGEMAPS before they can clear.
CAFTA-DR framework
CAFTA-DR sets the tariff treatment and rules of origin for qualifying US-origin goods moving into the region—the trade framework the supply chain operates inside.
Meridian’s sourcing is structured to operate within every one of these frameworks.
Food safety is an unbroken chain
For protein, food safety is cold-chain integrity. An unbroken chain of refrigeration—from the plant to your door—is what separates safe product from spoiled, and it is the heart of what the trade monitors and documents.
Continuous setpoint
Product held at temperature from source-load through ocean transit—not cooled in stages or recovered after a lapse.
Source-loading
Loaded directly into a pre-cooled reefer at the plant to minimize the handling breaks where the chain is most exposed.
Temperature documentation
A logged temperature record across the journey—evidence of an unbroken chain, not a single reading on arrival.
FSMA-aligned transport
Refrigerated carriage handled under the FDA's FSMA Sanitary Transportation rule—the federal standard for moving food safely.
Meridian’s sourcing is structured to keep this chain unbroken and documented.
The paper trail that clears the border
Compliant shipments travel with documentation. Meridian is built to assemble and manage it on your behalf—so the paperwork clears your product at the border instead of holding it there.
Health & sanitary certificates
The export and import health documentation the destination country requires for animal products.
Certificates of origin
Documentation establishing US origin, so qualifying goods can claim CAFTA-DR preferential treatment.
Spanish labeling
DR-bound consumer product carries Spanish-language labeling in line with Dominican norms (NORDOM-53).
Traceability
Records that tie a shipment back to its originating plant and lot, so a question has an answer.
What applies to your order, we flag and handle—nothing should surprise you at the port.
Source with confidence
Let’s scope a supply you can stand behind
Tell us what you need and we’ll scope a sourcing plan built to these standards—with the documentation handled on your behalf.