Food > Fish and Seafood > Imports 

Importing Live And Raw Shellfish

March 24, 2005

Live and raw shellfish products, whether frozen or unfrozen, must be harvested, handled and processed in a manner to ensure that the products are safe for human consumption. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has evaluated the shellfish sanitation programs of foreign countries in order to determine that they provide controls for product safety that are equivalent to controls established for Canadian shellfish products. As of this date, the following countries may export live and raw shellfish products to Canada. This may include clams, mussels, oysters, quahogs, geoducks, whelks, limpets, whole scallops, and scallops with roe:

• the United States - all products from shippers listed on the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List;
• New Zealand - all products from shippers listed on the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List;
• France - all products from shippers listed on the France Approved Exporters list;
• Korea - shucked frozen oysters from shippers listed on the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List;
• Japan - shucked frozen oysters from shippers listed on the Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List;
• Ireland - live oysters from shippers listed on the Ireland Approved Exporters list.

The Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List (ICSSL) is published by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Please note that the ICSSL includes shippers from countries that are not listed above and that are not permitted to export live or raw shellfish products to Canada.

The Canada Border Services Agency assists the CFIA in enforcing the regulatory requirements controlling the origin of live and raw shellfish when shipments of these products are being cleared for entry into Canada. Importers must complete an Import Service Centre Cover Sheet, and send a copy to the nearest CFIA Import Service Centre (ISC) for each shipment of imported live or raw shellfish. This should be done before the shipment is imported into Canada. Please include the name and registration number (e.g. 9876 SS) of the shellfish shipper on this form. It is recommended that you verify that the shipper is approved to export live or raw shellfish products to Canada to avoid refusal of the shipment. Personnel at the ISC will confirm that the shipper is approved to export shellfish products to Canada, and then will stamp the ISC cover sheet. A copy of the stamped ISC cover sheet will be faxed back to the importer. The stamped ISC cover sheet must be presented to the Border Services Agency prior to release of the shipment at the port of entry into Canada. The Border Services Agency will not release any shipments of live or raw shellfish without the stamped ISC cover sheet.

The Import Service Centres may be contacted as follows:

In addition to the requirement to present the stamped ISC cover sheet for Border Services Agency release of the shipment, a complete written notification must be provided to the appropriate CFIA fish inspection office within 48 hours of the shipment's arrival in Canada. As always, shipments must be available for CFIA inspection and cannot be released for distribution in Canada until notified by a CFIA fish inspector.

Scallop meats (i.e., the adductor muscle of the scallop with all roe and viscera removed) and fully cooked shellfish products may be imported from countries not listed above. These products are not included in this procedure. In the case of cooked shellfish products, process control documents must be available to demonstrate that the product was exposed to a heat process that completely cooks the product.

Instructions for Completing the CFIA Import Service Centre Cover Sheet - Request for Customs Release of Live and Raw Molluscan Bivalve Shellfish