(Updates with USDA regulatory notice, additional details throughout.)

Smithfield Foods (SFD) has been barred by Canadian authorities from importing some pork products from the company's processing plant in Tar Hill, North Carolina, to the country, the US Department of Agriculture said.

According to a notice posted Friday to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, meat products originating from the North Carolina facility were not eligible for export to Canada "until further notice." The export ban began Thursday, the agency said.

A company spokesperson reportedly told the Wall Street Journal that the export ban involves a limited number of offal shipments, which are the internal organs removed from slaughtered animals during processing.

"We are working with USDA FSIS to expedite the resolution of this matter," the spokesperson said, without elaborating, according to the report.

Reuters reported earlier, citing a statement from the company, that Canada blocked imports from a facility run by Smithfield Foods (SFD) that is the biggest US pork processing plant.

Smithfield did not immediately respond to a message from MT Newswires seeking additional information.

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