April 13, 2020 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued a notice to industry to inform you that as of April 2020, the organic import requirements for honey and maple products will be incorporated into AIRS.
Also, starting April 2020 the Canada Organic Regime team will be including the admissibility requirement for the import of organic products in the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS), in accordance with clause 357(3) of Part 13 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.
Importers of organic products will be required to submit copy of organic certificate (electronic copy) when declaring import of organic products in the Integrated Import Declaration (IID) database. Anyone who imports organic products must be able to present a valid organic certificate when requested at any time, including at the time of import.
The organic certificate must be issued by a certification body that is accredited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), or by an accredited certification body recognized under an existing organic equivalency agreement between Canada and a foreign country.
Honey and maple products will be the first commodities for which the admissibility requirement will be implemented. It is the responsibility of the importer to familiarize themselves with the new codes and comply with the import requirements.
If you have any questions, please contact the Canada Organic Regime team at cfia.opr-rpb.acia@canada.ca.
Learn more on organic product claims, standards and guidance documents.