Under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the United States (U.S.) issued a final regulation requiring U.S. importers to establish Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) to verify that food imported into the United States has been produced in a manner that meets applicable U.S. safety standards. The FSVP regulations apply to all foods regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) with some exceptions, such as juice, fish and seafood which are covered by other US FDA regulations. Please refer to the US FDA website for more information about the FSVP regulations including the products that are covered.
Canada and the U.S. have a Food Safety Systems Recognition Arrangement (FSSRA). The FSVP rule allows U.S. importers to meet modified requirements for food covered under the FSSRA that they import from Canadian manufacturers if the food is not intended for further processing. Please refer to the text of the Food Safety Systems Recognition Arrangement for more details about the products that are included in this arrangement. Under these modified requirements, rather than verifying that Canadian suppliers meet applicable U.S. safety standards, importers will verify that their suppliers are in regulatory good standing with Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
The CFIA will implement measures to help Canadian exporters demonstrate they are in good regulatory standing with the CFIA once the proposed SFCR come into force...
Trade in foods regulated by the US FDA may still proceed. Canadian food businesses should work with their U.S.importers and provide any information about the food safety controls that they follow to meet Canadian regulatory requirements when requested.
The CFIA strongly encourages all Canadian food businesses to enrol at My CFIA to access online services, and to be ready to meet the proposed SFCR licencing requirements when the regulations come into force.
This is excerpted from 6 April 2018 Notice to Industry by CFIA.