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About Us Membership Standards About Organics Directory Resources Events

Standards

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 Canada Organic Regulation
 
On June 30, 2009 the new Canada Organic Products Regulations came into effect. The regulation will ensure that products using the word “organic” or displaying the “Canada Organic” logo are certified by a federally accredited certification body to the Canadian Organic Standards. The new system provides the assurance that products labelled as organic comply with clearly defined practices that ensure that the basic principles of organic farming have been observed.
 
Farmers, organic food processing and distribution companies, as well as citizens who purchase organic food, have worked together with the federal authorities to bring about this needed set of rules.  The regulation applies to all organic products traded interprovincially or internationally.
 
Organic Products Regulations: 

The CFIA’s cost-benefit analysis indicated that mandatory certification and regulation of organic products could result in an overall net benefit to Canada of $752 million - the full report is available at www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/orgbio/coana/coanae.shtml

The scope of the Organic Products Regulations is limited to products which are under the mandate of the CFIA. Aquaculture is not included as part of the regime, as there are no defined Canadian Standards and these are not agriculture products. Some work is underway to include aquaculture standards within the Canadian Organic Standard through the CGSB Technical Committee. Fertilizers, personal care (cosmetics), pet food and natural health products are also not included in the scope of the regulations.
 
The Organic Products Regulations specify that:
  • Organic certification must be renewed annually
  • Imported products may enter Canada from countries whose requirements are deemed to be equivalent to those in the proposed regulations. This could be complete equivalency, or in many cases, equivalency with some conditions that will need to be met by the exporter to meet minimum requirements. If a country does not have an agreement with Canada, imported products must meet the Canada Organic Standard, unless the product has been certified by a certification body that is recognized by a country with which Canada has an agreement
  • Exported products (solely for export) will not need to meet the Canadian Organic Standard
  • The Logo can be used only on products with at least 95% organic content
  • Imported products will be eligible to bear the logo if they meet Canadian requirements (see above for potential scenarios for imported products)
  • Products with 70%-95% organic ingredients can claim X% organic products/ingredients, but cannot use the logo; products with less than 70% organic ingredients can identify the ingredients on the ingredient list, but cannot use the logo and cannot make the claim “organic”

For 24 months following the implementation date (June 30, 2009), the CFIA will implement temporary compliance & enforcement measures according to their Stream of Commerce policy. During this 2-year period, operators will be advised of non-compliance issues and requested to make corrections. Following this period, more stringent enforcement will apply.

Comments on the regulations can be addressed to:

Michel Saumur
Canada Organic Office
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
1400 Merivale Rd. T1-4-142
Ottawa, ON K1A 0Y9

...Things to know about the US-Canada Organic Equivalency Agreement (pdf)

 

Canada - US Equivalency Agreement

For an excellent overview of the agreement, please see our colleague's Equivalency page at
 
 
Canada Organic Office Key Messages:

COO_Key_messages_Canada_US.pdf

 

Background on "Critical Variances"

When the Canada/US Equivalency agreement was published, it contained a number of critical variances between the two standards that would have to be met before product could cross the border. Of the three variances, the variance that remains a market-shaping issue is the third,  involves animal stocking rates.

According to the published agreement, in order for livestock products to enter Canada, stocking rates as set out in the Canadian Standards would have to be met.

The NOP sent out a directive to all of the US certifiers that the requirements for product to be exported to Canada did not apply to processed product.  According to this directive, it would be live animals crossing the border that would need to meet these requirements. Everything else, like slaughtered animal products, washed and packaged eggs, etc. is considered processed and can cross the border as equivalent.

Draft Stream of Commerce Policy
The Canada Organic Office has released a draft 'Stream of Commerce' Policy which outlines a strategy for moving from a voluntary certification system to a mandatory certification system.
 
 
Organic Quality Management Systems Manual
 
The Organic Quality Management Systems Manual contains the policies and procedures relevant to the Canada Organic Regime. The manual outlines the requirements of the Organic Products Regulations, and describes the procedures that will be followed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Accreditation Advisory Bodies and Certification Bodies.
 
 
Canada Organic Logo
 
The new Canada organic logo is available for use on products certified organic by a federally accredited certification body.

 

Organic Standards

The organic regulations are built upon existing voluntary organic standards, which have been in effect since 1999. The Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) is responsible for the development and update of the National Standard for Organic Agriculture. These standards describe how Canadian organic products should be produced, processed, labelled and marketed. The  organic products regulations  allow the Canadian government to enforce the guidelines set out by the National Organic Standards. The CGSB’s National Organic Standards outline the following principles:
  • protect the environment, minimize soil degradation and erosion, decrease pollution, optimize biological productivity
  • replenish and maintain the long-term soil fertility by optimizing conditions for biological activity within the soil
  • maintain biological diversity for long-term sustainability
  • recycle materials and resources whenever possible
  • provide appropriate care to livestock to promote their health and behavioural needs
  • maintain the integrity of organic foods and processed products from initial handling to point of sale
  • use renewable resources in locally organized production systems
The National Organic Standards consist of 2 main documents:
 
Organic Production Systems General Principles and Management Standards
 
The Organic Permitted Substances List
 
BOTH AVAILABLE ON LINE FREE OF CHARGE
 


 Other Related Regulations
 
All organic products are also subject to existing relevant regulations, including the following:
 
The Canada Agricultural Products (CAP) Act
http://lois.justice.gc.ca/fr/C-0.4/ (français)

The Food and Drug Act
 
The Consumers Packaging and Labeling Act
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: 2010-03-31 21:07:38