Notice to the Canadian organic industry regarding trade of seaweed, chlorella and spirulina under the United States-Canada Organic Equivalency Arrangement

To: All regulated parties

Date: December 21, 2020

This notice provides clarification on the interpretation of the current United States-Canada Organic Equivalency Arrangement (USCOEA) which was signed in June 2009 and amended in January 2012.

The USCOEA covers the trade of organic seaweed products including chlorella and spirulina certified under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic regulations (7 CFR 205) or Canada Organic Regime (COR) organic agriculture standard (Organic production systems: general principles and management standards, CAN/CGSB-32.310.

Effective January 15, 2021, Canada's Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR-Part 13) for organic aquaculture products will require COR organic seaweed products including chlorella and spirulina to be certified to the aquaculture standard (Organic production systems Aquaculture – general principles, management standards and permitted substances lists, CAN/CGSB-32.312).

USDA certified aquatic plants – seaweed, chlorella and spirulina are eligible for USDA organic certification under the USDA crops standards (Policy Memorandum 12-1, Production and certification of aquatic plants – PDF (126 kb)).

Under the USCOEA, both USDA and 32.312 COR certified seaweed products including chlorella and spirulina continue to have access to both the Canadian and U.S. markets. Additional information about the USCOEA, is available on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Organic equivalency arrangements with other countries web page and the USDA National Organic Program's International Trade Policies: Canada web page.