Through a two-phase project, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has been working on strengthening import controls for organic foods.
The first phase began in November 2024, which required importers and brokers to declare whether they have a copy of the organic products certificate in their possession.
The second phase will come into effect on May 26, 2025. At this time, importers/brokers will be required to provide a digital copy (image) of the organic certificate(s) as part of their SWI release request. CBSA will assign a Unique Reference Number (URN) for each uploaded certificate. The assigned URN can be submitted for all subsequent shipments of goods covered by that certificate rather than providing another digital copy.
Once in effect, failure to provide a digital copy of the organic product certificate, or a URN, where the digital copy was previously provided, will result in the shipment being rejected until the information is provided.
For information on the CFIA’s process for authenticating organic certificates, refer to the flowchart: How to Determine if an Organic Certificate is Valid for Marketing an Organic Product in Canada.
Questions can be directed to the Canada Organic Regime team of CFIA at [email protected]