Canadian Organic Regulations — Update

The Canadian Organic Regulations will be implemented on December 14, 2008. The Organic Products Regulation was published in 2006 with a two year implementation period. We now have 5 months left. The Regulations will give federal oversight to the organic certification system in Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will be the competent authority for organic certification and enforcement in Canada. The new regulations apply to import, export and inter-provincial trade. The regulations also introduce a new organic logo for Canada that can be used by anyone certified under the regulations. The regulations reference the Canadian Organic Standards which is two documents: One outlining the Principles and major requirements for certified organic; The second being the Permitted Substances List. Products produced and sold within Ontario are not required to be under the federal regulation but in many cases markets will require certification to the federal regulation.

Since December 2006 there has been a lot of activity to update a number of outstanding issues in the standards. Many of these are editorial. Some are intended to clarify clauses that were commented on in 2006. These changes are currently being finalized and have been balloted by the Canadian General Standards Board process. The finalized standards will now be sent to the Standards Council of Canada for approval as a Canadian Standard. It is also expected that the regulation will be amended due to a couple issues that have arisen since 2006. All standards and regulatory revisions are expected to be finalized by December 14, 2008.

CFIA has established the Canada Organic Office (COO) to manage the new regulations. COO has also been working to establish the accreditation system for Certification Bodies in Canada. They will be recognizing the Accreditation Advisory Bodies and Certification Bodies once they have been accredited. In Ontario, I expect most of the major certification bodies that are currently operating here will be accredited to the new Canada Organic Regulations. Watch for more information from your certification body.

For More Information:

Organic Food and Farming Certification
CFIA Canadian Organic Office

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