Canada Organic Regime import requirements
Anyone who imports organic products must be able to present a valid organic certificate when requested at any time, including at the time of import.
The organic certificate must be issued by a certification body that is accredited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), or by an accredited certification body recognized under an existing organic equivalency agreement between Canada and a foreign country.
The organic product certificate must include the name of the product being imported, be issued by the Certification Body that certified the product as organic and, must accompany each shipment of organic products.
Importers will be notified once all import requirements are incorporated in the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS). From that time onwards importers of organic commodities will be required to submit a digital copy of the organic product certificate when declaring organic products online using the Integrated Import Declaration system.
The format of organic product certificates can vary depending on where the product is imported.
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- If the product is certified by a CFIA accredited Certification Body the organic product certificate does not have an expiry date but, the certificate will be updated annually and that date will be noted on the certificate
- The certificate will also list the following:
- the date on which the certification was granted or updated
- the list of certified products which shall be identified by their specific product name and any trademarks under which they are marketed
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- Product names on organic product certificates should coincide with the label, shipping bill, import, and/or export documentation
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- If the product is imported under the US-Canada organic equivalency arrangement the organic product certificate must:
- be issued by an United States Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (USDA NOP) accredited Certification Body
- have the following statement on the certificate: "Certified in accordance with the terms of the US-Canada Organic Equivalency Arrangement"
- To learn more, read the overview document on the US-Canada Organic Equivalency Arrangement
- If the product is imported under the US-Canada organic equivalency arrangement the organic product certificate must:
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- If the product is imported from the UK it must be accompanied by an organic product certificate as well as an export organic certificate issued by a UK approved control body recognized under the organic equivalency arrangement between Canada and the UK and listed in the approved UK organic control bodies
- To learn more, read the overview document of the United Kingdom-Canada Organic Equivalence Arrangement.
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- If the product is imported from the EU the organic operator certificate has to be issued by 1 of the European Union Control Bodies
- To learn more, read the overview document on the EU-Canada Organic Equivalency Arrangement.
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- If the product is imported from Switzerland, the organic product certificate has to issued by a Swiss Certification Body
- To learn more, read the overview document on the Canada-Switzerland Organic Equivalency Arrangement.
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- If the product is imported from Japan it must be accompanied by an organic product certificate and an export certificate issued by a Japanese Registered Certification Body listed in the List of Accredited Certification Bodies
- To learn more, read the overview document of the Japan-Canada Organic Equivalency Arrangement.
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- If the product is imported from Taiwan it must be accompanied by an organic product certificate as well as a Certificate for Transactions of Organic Products, issued by an Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) supervised Certification Bodies recognized under an existing organic equivalency recognition between Canada and Taiwan
- To learn more, read the overview document of the Canada-Taiwan Organic Equivalency Arrangement.
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- If the product is imported from Costa Rica it must be accompanied by an organic product certificate issued by a Costa Rican accredited Certification Body (Spanish only)
- To learn more, read the overview document of the Canada-Costa Rica Organic Equivalency Arrangement.
Latest updates for importers and brokers of organic products
January 30, 2023
The import and admissibility requirements for all the end uses of organic Seed products from chapters 7, 9, 10 and 12 were incorporated into AIRS, in January 2023, as per part 13 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations .
The new other government department (OGD) codes will differentiate organic products from conventional products. It is the responsibility of the importer to familiarize themselves with the new codes in AIRS and comply with the import requirements.
At this time, importers/brokers will be required to confirm possession of the organic product certificate at the time of import in the Integrated Import Declaration (IID).
Importers will be notified once all import requirements are incorporated in AIRS. From that time onwards importers of organic commodities will be required to submit a digital copy of the organic product certificate when declaring organic products online using the Integrated Import Declaration system.
If you have any questions, please contact the Canada Organic Regime team at OPR-RPB@inspection.gc.ca.
August 11, 2022
The import and admissibility requirements for all the end uses of organic dairy products from chapters 4, 9, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 35 were incorporated into AIRS, as per part 13 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.
The new other government department (OGD) codes will differentiate organic products from conventional products. It is the responsibility of the importer to familiarize themselves with the new codes in AIRS and comply with the import requirements.
At this time, importers/brokers will be required to confirm possession of the organic product certificate at the time of import in the Integrated Import Declaration (IID).
Importers will be notified once all import requirements are incorporated in AIRS. From that time onwards importers of organic commodities will be required to submit a digital copy of the organic product certificate when declaring organic products online using the Integrated Import Declaration system.
If you have any questions, please contact the Canada Organic Regime team at OPR-RPB@inspection.gc.ca.
July 7, 2021
On June 30, 2021, the import and admissibility requirements for organic grain products from chapter 10 for all the remaining end-uses were incorporated into AIRS, as per part 13 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.
It is the responsibility of the importer to familiarize themselves with the new codes and end-uses in AIRS and to comply with the import requirements.
At this time, importers/brokers will be required to confirm possession of the organic product certificate at the time of import in the Integrated Import Declaration (IID).
Importers will be notified once all import requirements are incorporated in Automated Import Reference System (AIRS). From that time onwards importers of organic commodities will be required to submit a digital copy of the organic product certificate when declaring organic products online using the Integrated Import Declaration system.
If you have any questions, please contact the Canada Organic Regime team at OPR-RPB@inspection.gc.ca.
June 16, 2021
On June 10, 2021, new harmonized system/other government department (HS/OGD) extension codes for organic grain products from chapter 10 with the end use "Human consumption" were published in AIRS. Additionally, the organic import admissibility requirements for these products have been incorporated into AIRS as per part 13 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.
At this time, importers/brokers will be required to confirm possession of the organic product certificate at the time of import in the Integrated Import Declaration (IID).
Importers will be notified once all import requirements are incorporated in Automated Import Reference System (AIRS). From that time onwards importers of organic commodities will be required to submit a digital copy of the organic product certificate when declaring organic products online using the Integrated Import Declaration system.
The new OGD codes will differentiate organic products from conventional products. It is the responsibility of the importer to familiarize themselves with the new codes in AIRS and comply with the import requirements.
December 24, 2020
On December 16, 2020, new HS/OGD extension codes for organic processed products from chapter 20 were published in AIRS. Additionally, the organic import admissibility requirements for these products have been incorporated into AIRS as per part 13 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.
At this time, importers/brokers will be required to confirm possession of the organic product certificate at the time of import in the Integrated Import Declaration (IID).
Importers will be notified once all import requirements are incorporated in Automated Import Reference System (AIRS). From that time onwards importers of organic commodities will be required to submit a digital copy of the organic product certificate when declaring organic products online using the Integrated Import Declaration system.
The new OGD codes will differentiate organic products from conventional products. It is the responsibility of the importer to familiarize themselves with the new codes and comply with the import requirements.
September 16, 2020
On August 27, 2020, new HS/OGD extension codes for organic eggs and shell egg products were published in AIRS. Additionally, the organic import admissibility requirements for these products have been incorporated into AIRS as per part 13 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.
Importers will be notified once all import requirements are incorporated in Automated Import Reference System (AIRS). From that time onwards importers of organic commodities will be required to submit a digital copy of the organic product certificate when declaring organic products online using the Integrated Import Declaration system.
The new OGD codes will differentiate organic products from conventional products. It is the responsibility of the importer to familiarize themselves with the new codes and comply with the import requirements.
September 8, 2020
On June 10, 2019, the new OGD extensions codes for organic fresh fruits and vegetables were implemented in the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) database. The list of new OGD extensions codes was shared on May 22, 2019 with stakeholders prior to AIRS publication.
Importers will be notified once all import requirements are incorporated in Automated Import Reference System (AIRS). From that time onwards importers of organic commodities will be required to submit a digital copy of the organic product certificate when declaring organic products online using the Integrated Import Declaration system.
Please continue to use AIRS to verify the import admissibility requirements for fresh fruit and vegetables, including any organic requirements.
April 22, 2020
On April 16, 2020, new HS/OGD extension codes for organic honey and maple products were published in AIRS. Additionally, the organic import admissibility requirements for these products have been incorporated into AIRS as per part 13 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.
Importers will be notified once all import requirements are incorporated in Automated Import Reference System (AIRS). From that time onwards importers of organic commodities will be required to submit a digital copy of the organic product certificate when declaring organic products online using the Integrated Import Declaration system.
The new OGD codes will differentiate organic products from conventional products. It is the responsibility of the importer to familiarize themselves with the new codes and comply with the import requirements.
April 7, 2020
On March 4, 2020, new HS/OGD extension codes for organic seeds and grains from chapter 7 were published in AIRS. The chapter covers dried leguminous vegetables. Organic stakeholders were informed on February 21, 2020 prior to publication.
The new OGD codes will differentiate organic products from conventional products. It is the responsibility of the importer to familiarize themselves with the new codes and comply with the import requirements.
The list of the new OGD codes for organic seeds and grains from chapter 7 are available in the table.
June 10, 2019
On June 10, 2019, the new OGD extension codes for organic fresh fruits and vegetables have been implemented in the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) database. The list of new OGD codes was shared on May 22, 2019 with stakeholders prior to AIRS publication.
The new OGD codes will differentiate organic products from conventional products. It is the responsibility of the importer to familiarize themselves with the new codes and comply with the import requirements.
The list of the new OGD extension codes for organic fresh fruits and vegetables is available in the table below.
April 17, 2019
The organic import requirements in part 13 of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations will be incorporated into the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS).
To implement the import requirements into AIRS, CFIA will use a phased-in approach which will involve creating new commodity identifiers (OGD extension codes) for organic products by commodity type.
The fresh fruits and vegetables will be the first commodity group to be implemented starting Spring 2019. CFIA will provide detailed information on each phase throughout the implementation process.
We encourage you to sign up for AIRS email notification and visit this page regularly for updates.
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