Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Science Branch
Office of Biotechnology

Legislation and Agricultural Products

Agricultural products include animals, plants, and seeds and their products, as well as products used to nurture and protect them from diseases. Such products include drugs and vaccines, feeds and additives, fertilizers and supplements.

Federal agencies evaluate these products for human health and environmental safety. They also determine that compositional standards are met, and that label information claims are accurate and not misleading. Novel products derived from genetic engineering are regulated in the same manner as novel products derived from conventional methods.

To simplify a complex process, submissions should be sent to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for the regulation of agricultural products. Assessments in conjunction with other departments, if required, will be managed by the agency.

Federal Legislation

Several agencies are involved in the regulation of agricultural products. The main regulators are The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada and Environment Canada.

Legislative Responsibility for the Regulation of Biotechnology
Products Regulated	Department(s) or Agencies ¹	Act	Regulations
Foods, drugs (human and veterinary), cosmetics, and medical devices including those derived through biotechnology	Health Canada (HC)	Food and Drugs Act	Food and Drug Regulations (Novel Foods Regulation), Medical Devices Regulations, Cosmetics Regulations
Pest control products	Pest Management Regulatory Agency,HC	Pest Control Products Act	Pest Control Products Regulations
Fertilizer supplements, including novel supplements (microbial and chemical)	Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)	Fertilizers Act	Fertilizers Regulations
Feeds, including novel feeds	CFIA	Feeds Act	Feeds Regulations
Veterinary Biologics	CFIA	Health of Animals Act	Health of Animals Regulations
Plants, including plants with novel traits and trees	CFIA	Seeds Act	Seeds Regulations
Transgenic Aquatic Organisms	Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans	Fisheries Act	Fisheries Regulations (under development)
All animate products of biotechnology for uses not covered under other federal legislation (the legislative/ regulatory "safety net")	Environment Canada HC	Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999²	New Substances Notification Regulations

¹ Industry Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) do not regulate products; however, they do provide an important advisory function in biotechnology regulatory policy development. In addition, NRCan provides scientific advice related to environmental safety decision-making for products such as plants with novel traits that are trees. For example, in 1998, the Canadian Forest Service ofNRCan sponsored a federal-provincial technical workshop on the regulation of genetically modified trees.

² The Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA, 1999) is a critical legislative component of this framework. CEPA, 1999 defines the criteria of notification and assessment of toxic that are the basis for the exemption of other Acts from the notification and assessment requirements of CEPA, 1999.CEPA, 1999 currently provides coverage for aquatic organisms, livestock or production organisms derived through biotechnology.

For More Information

Contact:

The Office of Biotechnology,
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Nepean, Ontario K1A OY9
Tel: (613) 225-2342
Fax:(613) 228-6604