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Notice to industry: Importing and handling invertebrates in Canada for personal or commercial purposes

March 20, 2023

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulates the import and handling of invertebrates in Canada. Requirements are in place to prevent damage to Canada's natural environment and to the agricultural and forestry sectors of the Canadian economy.

The CFIA has received an increase in requests to import or handle novel or newly described organisms, as well as organisms not known to be present in the Canadian environment. Little or no information is available to assess their risk to Canada's plant health resources and environment.

As a precaution, the CFIA only allows the import or handling of these organisms under containment conditions and for special purposes such as research or exhibition. This also applies to organisms only found in Canada within controlled environments such as greenhouses.

Please provide the complete and accepted scientific name (genus and species) of such organisms on your authorization request. These applications are considered complex applications. You should anticipate processing times that exceed normal service standards.

If you have questions about this notice, please email CFIA-IAS_ACIA-EEE@inspection.gc.ca.

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