RG-1 Regulatory Guidance:
Chapter 4 – Labelling and guarantees
4.11 International/multilingual labels

revised: 2015-02-03

Scope

The products to which this guidance applies are limited to single ingredient feeds or pre-mixtures used to provide select nutrients in the manufacture of livestock feeds.

Requests for multi-country/multilingual labelling have been periodically received by the Animal Feed Division. These are requests to include the labelling requirements and languages for foreign countries, in addition to those of Canada, on the same label.

Under the Feeds Act and Regulations, the definition of a label encompasses all the information (including symbols, marks or designs) that is applied or attached to, belonging to or accompanying any feed or package. This includes any details that may be intended for other countries.

Additional label information and requirement for registration

Labels for livestock feeds must contain the labelling information required by the Feeds Regulations. Any extra label information could be contrary to the standards outlined in the Feeds Regulations. Therefore, any company wishing to manufacture, import or sell a feed labelled with additional information must submit an "Application for Feed Registration" for the product in question, to the Animal Feed Division for review and assessment.

Additional languages

The Feeds Regulations specify that "any information required to be shown on a label shall be printed conspicuously, legibly and indelibly in English or French or both languages."

The Animal Feed Division will consider additional labelling information that is beyond what is required by the Feeds Regulations, such as languages other than French or English on livestock feed labels, provided that an Application for Feed Registration or Renewal (CFIA/ACIA 0009) is submitted to our office in order to have a multi-lingual label approved for a given feed.

All products with additional label information or with languages other than French and/or English on the label must be registered, even if they would otherwise be exempt from registration. This includes single ingredient feeds listed in part I of Schedules IV and V of the Feeds Regulations.

A complete translation of the label information (other than French or English) must be included with the application for registration in order to determine if there are any statements and/or claims that contravene the Feeds Act and Regulations (e.g. therapeutic uses or claims, rates of use in excess of maximum safety limits for the ingredient, feeds for species that are not regulated under the Canadian Feeds Act and Regulations).

Such supporting information must be accompanied by a Certificate of Translation, or attestation that the translations are accurate (see Appendix I as an example).

Registration and labelling requirements

The information required in order to comply with the Feeds Regulations must appear on the main panel of the package and must be presented in a manner that is not confusing, nor provide conflicting information to the user. Additional or alternative guarantees may be allowed on a case-by-case basis so long as they provide useful information to the purchaser and do not conflict with any requirements of the Feeds Regulations.

The requirement for a Certificate of Translation or attestation regarding the accuracy of the translation for multilingual labels is in addition to the registration requirements outlined in Chapter 1 of the RG-1 for the various feed types; there is no additional fee over and above that which is outlined in the RG-1.

If inspectors find unregistered products with additional label information, or in languages other than French and/or English on the label during their inspection activities the product will be considered non-compliant, and require corrective action.

If a company is uncertain whether their product requires registration, they should contact their local CFIA office or e-mail the Animal Feed Division at: cfia.afp-paa.acia@inspection.gc.ca for guidance.

Appendix I
Sample attestation of translation
multilingual livestock feed labels

Company (Registrant) Name

Address

Date

To whom it may concern:

The information on the label for the following product:

Brand and Product Name (for example, "Joe's lysine supplement")

is listed in the following languages:

Name of languages (for example, Spanish, German, Chinese, etc.)

The information that appears in these languages is:

• Spanish to English and/or French
• German to English and/or French
• Chinese to English and/or French

I hereby attest this to be a true and accurate translation of the information that appears in all languages on the label.

Sincerely,

(Authorized representative or professional translator)

Copy of the label for the above mentioned product is attached

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