Summary of changes to the European Union requirements for food and animal export
As of January 15, 2022, exporters for commercial food and animal commodities destined for the European Union (EU) where certification is required under the new EU Animal Health Law are required to use updated export certificates accessed through the Trade Control and Expert System New Technology (TRACES NT). The EU has afforded Canadian exporters allowances with respect to accepting the out of date, previously negotiated certificates until March 15, 2022 as long as they were signed before January 15, 2022.
Exporters of food and animal commodities to the EU are now required to complete send a request to validate their TRACES NT account by contacting the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) at cfia.tracesntadministrator-tracestnadministrateur.acia@inspection.gc.ca and apply for and create export certificate requests in TRACES NT. They must complete part 1 of the appropriate certificate in TRACES NT. To finalize a request for export services, exporters can contact their local CFIA office.
This table identifies the changes in process for requesting an export certificate to the EU that were effective January 15, 2022.
| Export requirements | Until January 14, 2022 | As of January 15, 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Before submitting a request | - | Create an EU login account and user access profile in TRACES NT and validate the account by contacting CFIA - cfia.tracesntadministrator-tracestnadministrateur.acia@inspection.gc.ca (only required to do this once). |
| Activate account (known in TRACES NT as "validate account") | - | Contact CFIA to have the account activated at – cfia.tracesntadministrator-tracestnadministrateur.acia@inspection.gc.ca. You will receive an email notification once your account has been activated (known in TRACES NT as validation). Validation is required before you can start to use TRACES NT. |
| Requesting an export certificate | - | Use TRACES NT to prepare part 1 of selected export certificate (including details of the shipment). (Can use a copy function for future requests). |
| Contact local office with a written request form (email) regarding a request for export services including certification | Contact local office with a written request form (email) regarding a request for export services including certification (must include TRACES NT certificate reference ID otherwise known as the information management system for official controls (IMSOC) Reference Number. | |
| Review | CFIA to review the export service request for completeness | CFIA to review the export service request for completeness. |
| Inspection | Inspections are conducted as required. | Inspections are conducted as required. |
| Changes to the service request | Changes in information can be made up to the time that the certificate is issued. | Changes in information can be provided to the CFIA so that updates to the certificate details can be made in TRACES NT by the CFIA up to the time that the certificate is issued. If arrangements have been made with the inspector, applicant can make certificate detail changes to part 1 of the certificate directly in TRACES NT up to the time that the inspector updates the certificate status within the system. |
| Notification | When the certificate is ready for pick up a notification will be sent. | When the certificate is signed in TRACES NT a notification will appear in the TRACES NT system. |
| Certificate available | Certificate is available for pick up from local office or courier. | Certificate can be viewed and printed from the TRACES NT system. |
| Invoicing | Invoice issued as required | Invoice issued as required, process remains the same. |
| Certificate replacement | Amendment requests are submitted to a local CFIA office with a copy of the original certificate request with amendments highlighted. | Requests for replacement certificates are submitted to the local CFIA office by the applicant. The replacement request identifies the IMSOC number of the original certificate and identifies the information which the applicant is requesting to be changed. The inspector retrieves the original certificate from TRACES NT, uses the replacement function to generate a replacement certificate, makes the requested changes and "validates" (issues) the replacement certificate. |
| EU clearance documents | EU importers responsible for the consignment, must enter all necessary certificate information to create entry documents Common Health Entry Document (CHED). | EU importers responsible for the consignment can use the "cloning" function to create entry documents (CHED) from a certificate produced in the system. The entire package of documents is available in TRACES NT and serves as a pre-notification of the arrival of a consignment and therefore control authorities at EU border or at destination can plan their controls. |
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