Canadian Import, Export and Interprovincial Requirements for Processed Products

This is not intended to replace any federal regulations; it is recommended to consult the appropriate set of regulations before using any information. Maple products are covered by the Maple Products Regulations and processed fruits, vegetables, and certain other products, by the Processed Products Regulations. These regulations are accessible on the Acts and Regulations of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Website .

Interprovincial Requirements

If you wish to ship a domestically produced processed food product interprovincially, please ensure that the following points are respected:

1. Processing Establishment Registration with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
2. Minimum Grade or Standard of Identity
3. Prescribed Containers,
4. Correct Labelling, and
5. Health and Safety Requirements as set out in the pertinent regulations.

Buyers shipping products interprovincially that do not meet items 1, 2, and 3, may only do so if given prior approval from the consignee's local regional Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

This approval is known as a ministerial exemption, and is conditional on availability of domestic supplies. Should you wish to trade interprovincially processed products in larger-than-largest containers (this means containers that are between approximately 2 L or 2 kg and 20 L or 20 kg), then you must have the labels registered at Headquarters prior to shipment.

Import Requirements

If you wish to import a processed food product, please ensure that the following points are respected:

1. Minimum Grade or Standard of Identity
2. Prescribed Containers, and
3. Correct Labelling;

4. Processed foods must be sound, wholesome, fit for human consumption, manufactured from sound raw materials, and packed under sanitary conditions. If the above requirements are met, the shipment (maple products excepted) need only be accompanied by an Import Declaration form in duplicate; it is to be completed by the importer or his representative. A copy of an import declaration may be obtain from you local Canadian Food Inspection Agency office or on the CFIA website..

Importers of processed products are required to pay a fee per shipment for the verification of the import declaration. Clients are required to open a charge account in each region where shipments are released. Import fees are payable by the due date shown on the client's monthly statement.

For questions on documentation required by the CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency), please contact you local CBSA office.

Import quotas or permits do not apply to processed products.

Products that do not meet items 1, 2, and 3, may only be imported if given prior approval from the consignee's regional Canadian Food Inspection Agency office. This approval is known as a ministerial exemption, and is conditional on availability of domestic supplies.

Should you wish to import processed products in larger-than-largest containers (this means containers that are between approximately 2 L or 2 kg and 20 L or 20 kg), then you must have the labels approved at Headquarters prior to importation.

Products covered by the Processed Products Regulations: A traveller bringing in products need not worry about the above items if the shipment does not exceed 20 kg. Products imported for a national or an international exhibition do not need to meet the above requirements if the shipment weighs 100 kg or less and is not for sale.

Maple syrup and maple products: A traveller may bring in the following products that do not meet the above items: Maple syrup - not exceeding 20 litres; Maple products other than maple syrup - weighing 5 kg or less. Maple syrup and maple products imported for a national or an international exhibition do not need to meet the above items if the maple shipment weighs 100 kg or less and is not for sale.

Export Requirements

If you wish to export a food product, please ensure that the following points are observed:

1. The food product has been prepared in a registered establishment. Contact your local Canadian Food Inspection Agency office for further information.
2. Minimum Grade or Standard of Identity
3. Prescribed containers, and
4. Correct Labelling
5. A fee is charged for the grading and/or issuance of an Export Certificate. Full payment is due to the inspector on completion of the document. Clients with pre-authorized credit privileges may be billed and the charges will appear on the client's monthly statement. Payment will be due by the date specified on the statement.

For questions on documentation required by the CBSA please contact you local CBSA office.

Products covered by the Processed Products Regulations: The above export sections do not apply if the food product weighs 20 kg or less, or if the food product is part of an emigrant's effects.

A Canadian food product that does not meet the requirements of the Processed Products Regulations as to grade, standard, packing, or marking may be exported if: the shipper provides a signed statement: - confirming that the container and markings comply with the requirements of the importing country, and - setting out the quality specifications of the contract under which the food product is being exported, the lot number or code of the shipment is marked on the label or embossed on the container, and the label on the container does not misrepresent the quality, quantity, composition, character, safety, or value of the food product.

If in doubt about a foreign country's requirements on imported foods, it is advisable that you enquire through the importing country's department of agriculture or perhaps through their embassy/consulate/trade commission in Canada before exporting.

Minimum Grade

In Schedule I of the Processed Products Regulations, the grades for each processed product, where applicable, are described. For example, canned corn has three grades: Canada Fancy, Canada Choice and Canada Standard; the minimum grade is Canada Standard. The minimum grade prescribed for a product is the minimum quality permitted to be imported or exported.

For imported products sold in original containers, the grade names are similar to that of domestic product, except the word Canada must be omitted, and the word Grade must be added. In the above example, the grades for imported canned corn become the following: Fancy Grade, Choice Grade, and Standard Grade.

Some products included in the Processed Products Regulations do not have grades established for them; instead, standards of identity have been created. This simply means that to use a common name, for example "jam", a specified composition must be respected.

Prescribed Containers

Prescribed or standard container sizes, which must be used, are indicated in the Tables of the Maple Products and Processed Products Regulations. Prescribed containers refer to specific dimensions for metallic containers and/or to container net quantities. Exceptions as noted in the interprovincial, import and export sections may prevail over this requirement.

Labelling Requirements and Label Review

• Nutrition Labelling (Same as Dairy)
• Labelling guidelines are outlined in chapters 11 and 13 of the Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising

Registered Establishments

Regulated product shipped interprovincially, exported or which bear the Canadian grade mark must be prepared in a registered establishment. Contact your local Canadian Food Inspection Agency office for further information on registration requirements.

Inspection of Products

Export Inspection: A person wanting a grade and/or an export certificate (for his own protection or to meet a requirement of an importing country) for other processed products shall submit a completed application to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (please contact your local office of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for a sample form).

A fee is charged for the grading and/or issuance of an Export Certificate. Full payment is due to the inspector on completion of the document. Clients with pre-authorized credit privileges may be billed and charges will appear on the client's monthly statement. Payment will be due by the date specified on the statement.

Import and Interprovincial Inspection: Inspection is not obligatory for maple or processed products involved in an import or interprovincial shipment.

Administrative Inspections: At any time, The Canadian Food Inspection Agency may randomly inspect any food product to ensure that minimum requirements (composition, labelling, standard containers, and health standards) are met. Non-compliant product will be detained until it meets regulatory requirements, or if imported, may be ordered out of the country.

Products Regulated by the Processed Products Regulations

GRADED CANNED FRUIT, FRUIT PRODUCTS AND VEGETABLES: apples (sliced), apples juice, concentrated apple juice, apple juice from concentrate, apple sauce, apricots (whole or halves), asparagus (tips or spears), asparagus (cuts or cuttings), beans (green or wax, with or without seasoning), beans (lima), beets (whole, sliced, diced or cubed, cut or quartered, julienne or shoestring), berries (small fruits), blueberries, strawberries, carrots, whole, sliced, diced or cubed, julienne or shoestring), cherries (red, sour, pitted, sweet, maraschino, creme de menthe or cocktail), corn (whole or cut kernel, with or without seasoning, cream style, on-the-cob), fruit cocktail, fruits for salad, fruit salad, mixed vegetables (macedoine), mixed vegetable juices, mushrooms, peaches (whole, halved, sliced, diced or quartered), pears (whole, halved, sliced, diced or quartered) plums, prune plums, peas, peas and carrots, white potatoes (whole, sliced, diced or cubed,julienne, shoestring, regular cut or crinkle cut), sweet potatoes (whole or cut), pumpkin, squash, sauerkraut, spinach, tomatoes (whole, whole and pieces, wedges, sliced, diced, or chopped), stewed tomatoes, tomato juice, concentrated tomato juice, tomato juice cocktail, tomato puree, tomato pulp, tomato paste or concentrated tomato paste, tomato catsup, tomato chili sauce, tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce.

GRADED FROZEN FRUITS AND VEGETABLES: apples (sliced), concentrated apple juice, apricots, asparagus (tips, spears), asparagus (cuts or cuttings), beans (green or wax), lima beans, berries (small fruits), blueberries, whole strawberries, sliced strawberries, broccoli (spears, cut or chopped), brussels sprouts, carrots (cut carrots-baby whole style, cut carrots-whole style, diced, sliced,whole carrots or whole baby carrots), cauliflower, cherries (red sour pitted), sweet cherries, whole kernel corn (whole grain), corn-on-cob, fruit cocktail, fruits for salad, fruit salad, frozen mixed vegetables, special blends of frozen vegetables, frozen concentrated orange juice, peaches (halves, sliced, diced or quartered), peas, peas and carrots (diced, sliced or whole), french fried potatoes (straight cut or regular cut, shoestring or julienne, crinkle cut or crinkle cut shoestring or crinkle cut julienne), squash (cooked), uncooked squash (diced or cubed), rhubarb (cut), spinach (whole leaf, cut or chopped).

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTS WITH SPECIFIED STANDARDS OF IDENTITY:jams, jellies, citrus marmalade, pineapple marmalade, fig marmalade, preserves (conserves), mint jelly, jellied mint, cranberry jelly, jellied cranberries, cranberries, cranberry sauce, canned fruits, frozen fruits, fruit juices, grape juice, concentrated grape juice, grape juice from concentrate, glace fruit, cut mixed fruit, fruit peel, cut mixed peel, mincemeat, fruit mince, pie fillers, pie filling, pie fruits, canned vegetables, canned vegetables (with sauce, butter, butter sauce, cheese sauce or tomato sauce), frozen vegetables, vegetable juices, bean sprouts, vegetables for chop suey, beans with pork, beans with pork and tomato sauce, beans, vegetarian beans, ripe peas, dried soaked peas, dry peas, cooked dry peas, ripe lima beans, dried soaked lima beans, dry lima beans, cooked dry lima beans, hominy corn, frozen mushrooms (whole, sliced, diced, chopped, stems and pieces or pieces and stems), mushrooms (stems and pieces), creamed mushrooms (whole, sliced or chopped), olives, onions, pickles, relishes, chutneys, apricot nectar, peach nectar or pear nectar, prune nectar, sauerkraut with preservative, sweetened frozen concentrated orange juice.

OTHER PRODUCTS FOR WHICH ONLY A STANDARD CONTAINER EXISTS: vegetable soup, fruit and vegetable juice including fruit nectar, spaghetti in tomato sauce, horseradish sauce, creamed seafood sauce, prepared mustard, cider vinegar, wine vinegar, infant and junior food, mandarin oranges, pineapple (sliced, crushed, tidbits and chunks), grapefruit, orange and grapefruit sections, frozen vegetables with spices, seasonings, sauce or rice, frozen potatoes other than french fried potatoes.

NOTE:  This list is subject to change.  Contact your Regional Canadian Food Inspection Agency Office for the most up-to-date list.