For a snack that is so easy to eat, beef jerky faces strict restrictions and regulation for both its production and import.
For starters, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States’ Department of Agriculture has established the proper procedure for the elaboration of beef jerky, taking into consideration safety regulations and potential risk hazards.
Beef jerky imports are far more complicated than that—multiple countries forbid it altogether, and the few ones that allow them to impose elaborated documentation and inspections.
It is for this reason that beef jerky is almost always locally produced and elaborated—perhaps the original purpose of these measures.