Canada-Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards 2011

Published: 2012-06-05
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Introduction

Canada has introduced some food and agricultural regulations and initiatives in 2011 that may be of importance to U.S. exporters. Some of these regulations and/or initiatives include the approval of new health claims, new allergen labeling regulations, regulatory amendments to the Food and Drug Regulations to allow the use of sodium diacetate in meat products, as well as voluntary targets for sodium reduction for pre-packaged (processed) foods.

Since April 1997, all federally mandated food inspection and quarantine services for domestic and imported foods were consolidated into the CFIA. As a result, food inspection and quarantine services previously provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Health Canada, Industry Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada are integrated under the CFIA. The responsibility of food safety policy and risk assessment remains with Health Canada. The following are brief descriptions of Canadian legislation that applies to imports. Readers should note that while the official Acts are the enabling legislation, it is the associated regulations that contain detailed requirements pertaining to imports. Full texts of Canada's Laws are available atwww.justice.gc.ca

Canada Agricultural Products (CAP) Act and Associated Regulations

The CAP Act and associated regulations are designed to set national standards and grades for agricultural products and to regulate the marketing of agricultural products in import, export, and interprovincial trade. They provide for the licensing of dealers in agricultural products; the inspection, grading, labeling, and packaging (including standardized sizes) of regulated products. The following regulations fall under the CAP Act: