The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), in coordination with other government and international partners, is constantly assessing the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan as it evolves and taking appropriate actions as necessary to protect Canada's food system.
The CFIA has implemented enhanced import controls on all food and animal feed products from areas in Japan affected by the ongoing nuclear crisis. These products will not be allowed entry into the Canadian food and feed systems without acceptable documentation or test results verifying their safety. In addition, the CFIA has launched a sampling and testing strategy to monitor radiation levels of products being imported from Japan.
Canada's actions complement steps taken by the Japanese government to ban the sale of food contaminated with radioactive material in Japan. These controls also add an additional safeguard to Canada's existing import controls.
Currently, the areas considered affected include:
This list will be adjusted as required to ensure that border controls continue to maintain the safety of Canada's food supply.
The CFIA has instructed the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to refer all shipments of food and feed from Japan to the CFIA National Import Service Centre. CFIA officials will assess the shipments to determine if they can enter the Canadian marketplace.
All shipments of food and animal feed from Japan must be accompanied by a signed attestation from the importer indicating that:
Products from Japan without the appropriate documentation will be held and tested by Canadian authorities to determine if they can enter the Canadian food supply. Only products determined to be safe will be allowed to enter the marketplace.
Any potentially contaminated products will be disposed of in accordance with protocols from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.
The CFIA has launched a sampling and testing strategy to monitor radiation levels of products being imported from Japan.
As part of this approach, the CFIA will:
This approach will target the commodities posing the greatest risk but will also focus on a broader range of other commodities through random sampling and testing.
The CFIA's enhanced border controls related to the nuclear crisis in Japan first came into effect on March 24, 2011. Expanded import controls to include all food and feed products from Japan are effective April 1, 2011.