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Replacement certificates

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) may issue a replacement certificate for food exports, depending on the circumstances. Most commonly, administrative errors, a change of consignee, or a lost or damaged certificate are the reasons replacement certificates are requested.

Applicants must provide a rationale supporting their request.

An applicant must have control measures in place in their preventive control plan (PCP) or use an export certification control program (ECCP) plan (see A guide for preparing an Export Certification Control Program (ECCP) plan) for the preparation and record keeping of their export certificates. These plans must take into account requests for replacement certificates due to lost or damaged certificates and the actions taken to prevent a recurrence.

A fee will be charged for the replacement certificate and any inspection activities required for the CFIA to be able to issue the certificate.

When a replacement certificate is issued, the original certificate becomes void. The original certificate and all accompanying export documents must be returned to the CFIA, be in the possession of a recognized foreign competent authority, or be in the possession of a Canadian embassy or consulate. A written explanation must be provided to the CFIA when a certificate cannot be returned.

The CFIA recognizes that in certain exceptional circumstances, export certificates and additional export documents may be lost or damaged. All effort should be made by the applicant including all parties involved, to recover them.

If the product has already been imported into the foreign country, a replacement certificate can only be issued if it is intended to replace a lost original and the information on the replacement certificate is identical to the original.

If a replacement certificate is requested for a change of country of destination, the lot must have complied with the requirements of the new country of destination at the time of processing. Such a situation can arise when international circumstances, for example, an embargo or natural disaster, require the issuance of replacement certificates.

Notes

Additional documentation instead of replacement certificates

Addendums

Addendums provide new or additional information to an original export document. This may include missing information that should have been included with the original document, correction of typographical errors made by the CFIA/applicant or when the purchaser's name has changed. Addendums are not to be used to modify any information about the product itself unless it is a typographical error.

Letter of Explanation

A letter of explanation may be issued instead of a replacement certificate if the applicant can provide reasonable indication that the letter will be acceptable to the importing country and adequate supporting documentation for the change.

Export stamp and shipping mark errors

If the shipping marks do not match the numbers issued on the certificate, the errors must be corrected. The boxes will require the incorrect stamp or shipping mark to be blacked out and new information labelled over it or the product will need to be re-boxed with the correct shipping marks. A replacement certificate cannot be issued to correspond to incorrect shipping marks or stamps.

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