United States of America – Export requirements for fresh fruit and vegetables

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1. Eligibility requirements

Eligible

  • Canada is considered one of the countries that has a system of inspection recognized by the United States (U.S.) for export purposes
  • Canadian exporters are responsible to verify U.S. requirements in relation to food safety, grade, labelling, packaging and plant health before requesting an export certificate from the CFIA
  • The U.S. has two different regulatory bodies responsible for FFV import requirements, namely:
    • Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – Food safety
    • United States Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA-AMS) – Grade and labelling as well as the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) – Plant health
  • Canadian exporters must verify the import requirements of their FFV products in the Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR) search tool prior to exporting Canadian fresh fruit and vegetable (FFV) products to the U.S. Most U.S. import restrictions on FFV products also include a phytosanitary component
  • CFIA notes that many foreign origin, or "off-continent" FFV products are prohibited to be re-exported from Canada to the U.S. due to significant phytosanitary risks to the FFV industry in the U.S. It should be noted that, due to phytosanitary risk, all imports of non- U.S. origin citrus products to the U.S., including re-exports from Canada, are prohibited

Establishments

  • To be eligible to export FFV products to the U.S., Canadian establishments who request a food export certificate, for example, for grade verification, must be federally licensed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) under the Safe Food for Canadian Regulations (SFCR). In addition, such establishments must be licensed for the "export" activity
  • USDA-APHIS requires pre-approval of production establishments for some FFV products. Canadian exporters should consult the  Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR) search tool to determine if establishment registration by USDA-APHIS, prior to export, is needed
  • Establishments that export tablestock potatoes to the U.S. have the option of becoming registered in and approved by CFIA under the Canadian Partners in Quality (C-PIQ) program. C-PIQ is an audit-based program that allows industry to self-issue grade verification Export Documents. Interested exporters should refer to the C-PIQ program manual or contact their local CFIA office for more information
    • Establishments that export onions to the U.S. may request to participate in a pilot Canadian Partners in Quality (C-PIQ) program. 

Product specifications

All shipments of FFV products grown and packed for the purpose of export into the U.S. must comply with

  • all applicable regulatory requirements such as food safety, grades, labelling, packaging, phytosanitary and
  • Canadian requirements, unless they meet the exemption in Section 16 of the SFCR

Maximum levels for chemical contaminants and pesticides

  • Residues of all chemicals and pesticides must comply with Codex Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for export to the U.S. In the instances where Canadian MRLs (see Health Canada Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides) are higher than those MRLs established by Codex, the industry must comply with the MRLs established by Codex
  • In order to maintain access to the U.S. market for Canadian fresh fruit and vegetables, it is an industry responsibility to be aware of and to be compliant with U.S. import requirements. Failure to comply with such requirements could result in potential loss of market access for Canadian fresh fruit and vegetables.

Grade and size requirements

  • Section 8e of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act (AMAA) of 1937 (PDF), enforced by USDA-AMS, requires an inspection certificate for tablestock potatoes, onions, and field tomatoes exported into the U.S.
  • The grade and size requirements are in effect for
    • Tablestock potatoes and onions all year round and
    • Field tomatoes from October 10 to June 15

Note: some types of potatoes and onions are excluded (that is to say exempt) from the marketing order in Section 8e of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act (AMAA) of 1937 (PDF). Exemptions also exist based on the end use of the product in the U.S. For more information, refer to the USDA-AMS website Section 8e and Imports.

Prior notice

In order for tablestock potatoes, onions, and field tomatoes to be exported to the United States, USDA-AMS requires prior notice, through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Automated Commercial Environment (ACE). With the implementation of the new electronic filing requirement in the U.S. on September 2, 2020, shipments which do not have the CFIA export certificate pre-filed in the ACE are directed automatically to grade verification at destination in the U.S. by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Although ACE is a relatively new system, the Section 8e grade requirements for export certification of Canadian onions, potatoes, and field tomatoes have been in place for decades. All three products, when exported to the U.S., require grade verification either in Canada or upon arrival in the U.S.

2. Inspection requirements

Section 8e of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act

Section 8e of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act (AMAA) of 1937 (PDF) applies to specific fruit, vegetable, and specialty crop exported into the United States. The AMAA requires products exported into the United States to meet the same or comparable grade, size, quality and maturity standards as domestic products covered by Federal marketing orders. The Marketing Order and Agreement Division (MOAD), in USDA-AMS enforces the Federal marketing orders for fruits, vegetables, and specialty crops, as well as compliance with import regulations.

For a list of all commodities covered by marketing orders, refer to the Fruits & Vegetables page maintained by USDA-AMS.

All commodities subject to Section 8e of the AMAA must be presented for inspection to USDA-AMS or its Federal-State partners as separate lots that correspond to each individual Customs Entry Number. This requirement aligns the practices in all ports of entry in the U.S., and will help USDA-AMS expedite its review and release of shipments from a "Hold Intact" status to a "May Proceed" status, allowing product movement to market in a speedy and efficient manner.

Exemptions to Section 8e

Exemptions to requirements in Section 8e only apply to fruits, vegetables and specialty crops exported into the United States that are destined for processing, animal feed, charity relief, certified seeds, government agencies, or other exempt outlets. It is vital that Canadian exporters review the requirements for each commodity before attempting to export under an exemption because not all exempted end uses apply to all products.

One significant type of exemption is "for processing". In most cases, processing includes canning, freezing, juice, dehydration, chips, shoestrings, starching, flouring, pickling or the application of heat or cold to such an extent that the natural form or stability of the commodity undergoes a substantial change. Peeling, cooling, slicing, dicing or applying material to prevent oxidation does not constitute processing.

All lots of commodities being exported for processing or other exempt use must be accompanied by the electronic filing of a properly executed SC-6 certificate. The SC-6 exemption form must now be filed through the Compliance and Enforcement Management System (CEMS). Canadian exporters should refer to the following links for directions on how to register and create an account in CEMS and instructions on filing a SC-6 Certificate.

Notifying CFIA prior to export

  • Exporters wishing to request grade verification inspection and certification for potatoes, onions and/or field tomatoes intended for export into the U.S. must notify their local CFIA office and complete a Food export certificate request form in advance of when the product is intended to be exported. This allows CFIA to effectively manage its resources and arrange for the inspection
  • If a Canadian exporter would like to request a phytosanitary certificate from CFIA, they must first determine the phytosanitary requirements of the U.S. that must be met
  • The U.S. requires representative sampling for grade verification. When requesting grade verification and export certification of bulk packed product for export to the U.S., exporters must ensure that inspectors can access all product in each container selected for sampling (access to top, middle and bottom). Exporters must submit a written plan that details how inspectors will have access to all product in each bulk container selected for sampling to allow the inspector to collect a representative sample from the prepared lot
    • Written plans may include but are not limited to
      • Transferring product from one bulk container to another
      • Appropriately placed access points in bulk containers
  • Note: the CFIA will review the exporter's proposed sampling procedure and indicate to the exporter if the export request may proceed. If the CFIA determines that the request cannot be completed based on the procedure proposed, the exporter must choose a different option for certification of their product to meet U.S. import requirements (for example, repack in prepackaged containers or request destination inspection in the U.S.).

Grade verification by CFIA

Grade verification at C-PIQ establishments

Re-inspection of products at entry

  • All shipments of FFV products exported into the U.S. may be subject to re-inspection in the U.S. at an official import inspection establishment or at an alternative inspection location authorized at the time of importation.

Import alerts

Canadian product returning from the United States

  • FFV products exported to the U.S. from Canada may be intended for:
    • raw consumption
    • further processing
    • use in the food system
  • FFV product may be rejected and returned to Canada for the following reasons:
    • missing, incomplete and/or incorrect paperwork
    • the exporter is not eligible to export into the U.S. (if an eligibility list exists for that particular FFV product)
    • failing to comply with U.S. regulatory requirements based on inspection or product testing

Note: Canadian exporters should notify the CFIA of the returning product and the reason it was refused. The exporter is responsible to arrange for the return of the product.

3. Labelling, packaging and marking requirements

  • FFV products must meet all applicable labelling, packaging and marking criteria requirements in the U.S.
  • Canadian exporters are encouraged to work closely with their U.S. importers to ensure compliance

Shipping marks

  • Shipping marks are used to associate a product with a Canadian certificate and may be required by U.S. regulatory bodies
  • The lot identification may need to be provided in the appropriate field of the export certificate or in the comments/remarks section of the certificate if a specific field does not exist on the certificate

4. Documentation requirements

Food safety/Human health/Sanitary certificate

Not required.

Grade verification export certificate

  • An E3 export certificate or a C-PIQ Export Document is required year round for tablestock potatoes and onions
  • An E3 export certificate is required for field tomatoes from October 10 through June 15 of each year

Phytosanitary certificate

  • For FFV products originating from Canada, a CFIA-issued phytosanitary certificate may be an export option to meet U.S. plant health requirements.
  • For re-exports of non-Canadian origin FFV products into the U.S. Canadian exporters should consult the Agricultural Commodity Import Requirements (ACIR) search tool published by USDA-APHIS. Many foreign origin FFV products will be prohibited entry by the U.S. A phytosanitary certificate or a Canadian phytosanitary certificate of re-export may be required
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