General Standards
Canada is a member of the WTO and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), and as a result the country promotes the adoption of and compliance with the technical regulations and standards of these economic organizations.
To reduce trade barriers, NAFTA (and Canada, as one of its members) applies 3 basic principles to bilateral trade:
1. nondiscriminatory treatment towards testing facilities and certification bodies
2. harmonization to the greatest extent of the federal standards-related measures
3. greater openness in the regulatory process.
The major objective of the WTO TBT Agreement (Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade) is to ensure that standards, technical regulations, testing and certification procedures do not create unnecessary barriers to trade. The WTO SPS Agreement (Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures) aimes at ensuring food safety, as well as animal and plant health. Transparency, the use of international standards, proportionality and equivalency represent important principles of these agreements.
National Standards System
Trade standards in Canada are developed, promoted and implemented by the Canada's National Standards System (NSS). The NSS comprises over 400 organizations accredited by the Standards Council of Canada. These organizations are responsible for standards development, product testing, conformity assessment, and product/service certification.
Standards Council of Canada
Standards Council of Canada (SCC) is the organization which coordinates standardization activities in Canada. The SCC consists of representatives from the federal and provincial governments. It also includes representatives of public and private interests. It should be mentioned that the SCC is independent of government.
The Standards Council performs the following activities:
- it prescribes policies and procedures for developing National Standards of Canada
- it coordinates Canada's participation in the international standards system
- it accredits the organizations involved in standards development, product or service certification, testing.
The SCC does not develop standards itself, and does not conduct conformity assessments. Its role is to accredit testing and certification organizations, which will conduct conformity assessments and reviews.
Standards Organizations
There exist 4 accredited standards organizations in Canada:
1. Canadian Standards Association (CSA)
2. Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC)
3. Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB)
4. Bureau de Normalisation du Québec (BNQ).
The CSA and ULC represent private sector organizations. They cover standards related to commercial goods and services. The CGSB and BNQ cover regulations related to the activities of the Canadian federal and Quebec provincial government.
Conformity Assessement
All regulated products must be tested and certified. Product testing is usually performed by a testing and certification organization/laboratory, accredited to operate the test that certifies the product's conformity with the standards.
The Standards Council accredits 6 types of conformity assessment organizations:
- testing and calibration laboratories
- management system certification bodies
- personnel certification bodies
- product and service certification bodies
- inspection bodies
- greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies.
Product Certification
The product certification must be obtained before the products are imported into the country. The process can take some time, this is why certification should be one of the first steps taken to establish an export market in Canada.
In order to know the exact Canadian certification requirements, exporters are advised to contact the SCC directly to determine: what testing is required, and what organizations are accredited to conduct that testing and certification.
Food and Agricultural Standards
Canada's government is responsible for making food as safe as possible for consumers, this is why the country's food safety system is of the highest class.
Food products in Canada are regulated by several acts and documents such as the Food and Drugs Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Fish Inspection Act, the Meat Inspection Act and the Canada Agricultural Products Act. All these acts were created at different times and have been updated at differing frequencies.
The Food and Drugs Act is a legislative document concerning the production, import, export, transport across provinces and sale of food, drugs and cosmetics. Its objective is to ensure that the enumerated products are safe, that all their ingredients are listed, and that medicines are effective and are not sold as food or cosmetics.
The Food and Drugs Act concentrates on 3 important areas:
1. improved food safety control in order to better protect consumers
2. modernized and strengthened legislative authorities
3. enhanced international market opportunities for Canadian industry
To explain these three important points, it should be mentioned that the current legislation of Canada doesn't require food producers to have traceability systems. The Act provides the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) with strengthened authorities and help to develop regulations and tools related to tracing and recalling potentially unsafe food, including a prohibition against selling food products that have been recalled.
The Food Act also helps to improve import controls, which is very important, as there is less information and control on the foreign manufacturing processes and products. The legislation strengthens import controls by including powers to license importers and prohibits the importation of unsafe food commodities.
Food labelling in Canada
Obligatory nutrition facts table
Most pre-packaged foodstuffs sold in Canada require a Nutrition Facts table to be included on the label. The Nutrition Facts table should provide nutrient information in a standardized format. It must include information, based on the stated serving size, energy content and 13 core nutrients. Additional nutrients may also be enumerated in the Nutrition Facts table, either voluntarily or obligatory. Thus, for example, it becomes obligatory to indicate information on omega-6, omega-3 and monounsaturated fatty acids when any one of these is mentioned on the label.
Some products are exempt from having a nutrition facts table. These products include fresh fruits and vegetables. However, under certain conditions, such as the presence of a claim or addition of vitamins or mineral nutrients, these food products must carry a Nutrition Facts table.
Dietary fibre
The Policy for Labelling and Advertising of Dietary Fibre-Containing Food Products, released in February 2012, affects the declaration of both dietary fibre and energy in the Nutrition Facts table. This policy aligns Canada with international standards on the definition of dietary fibre.
Both the amount of dietary fibre naturally occurring in foods and the amount of dietary fibre from accepted novel fibre sources are included as part of the total dietary fibre declaration.
An energy value of 2 kilocalories per gram is used for calculating the dietary fibre portion of the caloric declaration, unless another value has been accepted by Health Canada.
Food allergen labelling
New regulations on food allergen labelling for all pre-packaged foods sold in Canada came into force in 2012. According to these regulations specific priority food allergens, gluten sources and added sulphites must be declared on food labels, either in the list of ingredients or immediately following the list of ingredients using the format "Contains: [common name of allergen]."
Priority food allergens in Canada
In Canada, priority food allergens are considered the following ingredients:
- peanuts
- tree nuts (almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, walnuts)
- sesame seeds
- milk
- eggs
- seafood (fish, crustaceans and shellfish)
- soybeans
- wheat (including kamut, spelt and triticale)
- mustard seeds
Gluten sources should be declared when a product contains gluten protein or modified gluten protein from barley, oats, rye, triticale, or wheat (including kamut and spelt). Health Canada's position on gluten-free claims restricts label statements to products containing less than 20 parts per million of any gluten protein, including protein fractions. Sulphites should be declared when directly added to a food, or when the total amount of added sulphites in the food is 10 parts per million or more.
Organic food regulations
Any agricultural product that is labeled organic is regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Producers of these products may be asked to demonstrate that the organic quality of the product is truthful and not misleading, and that all the specific requirements have been met. All food sold in Canada must comply with the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and Regulations, and any commodity-specific requirements, such as those for dairy, eggs and meat.
More details regarding the organic food regulations can be found here:
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/organic-products/eng/1300139461200/1300140373901
Regulatory bodies
Health Canada establishes health and safety related requirements under the FDA and its accompanying regulations, policies and guidelines.
Official website: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/index-eng.php
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for the enforcement of the health and safety requirements in the FDA and its associated regulations as well as establishing non-health and safety food labelling policies.
Official website: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/eng/1297964599443/1297965645317
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) provides information and support to help industry understand regulatory requirements in order to get innovative foods into the marketplace.
Official website: http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/home/?id=1395690825741
