Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA)
- Notifying member
- Canada
- Title
- Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA)
- First published
- 13/06/2018
- First EIF
- Latest published
- 17/06/2019
- In force to
- Latest notification
- G/LIC/N/3/CAN/22
- Product categories
- List of products subject to licensing
- Attachment
- Safe Food For Canadians Act_17.06.2019.pdf
- Nature of licensing
-
Non-automatic
- Administrative purpose/measure being implemented
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- Other
- Decription of purpose/measure being implemented
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The purpose of licensing is to ensure that importers understand their responsibility for ensuring that the food they import is safe for consumption, and that it will meet all the applicable Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulatory requirements. Licensing will enable the CFIA to identify food safety risks, communicate food safety information directly to food businesses, and take enforcement actions when regulatory requirements are not met.
- Administrative body(ies) for submission of applications
-
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency
- 1400 Merivale Road, Nepean, Ontario Canada K1A 0Y9
- http://inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/my-cfia/eng/1482204298243/1482204318353
- +1-800-442-2342 (Canada and US only)
- Contact point for information on eligibility
-
Same as the "Administrative bodies"
- Expected duration of licensing procedure
- The import licensing requirement will be ongoing. The CFIA expects that most import licences will be issued upon application. In some cases, in order to secure the import licence, an assessment may need to be conducted by the CFIA to verify that the conditions specified in section 29 of the regulations are being met.
- Found by secretariat
- No
- Related document symbols
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- G/LIC/N/2/CAN/1
- Source
- Notes
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G/LIC/N/2/CAN/1
On 15 January 2019, the Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA) and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) will come into effect. SFCR will incorporate 14 existing regulations into a single, more outcome based regulation. This includes the incorporation of the Fish Inspection Regulations, Licensing and Arbitration Regulations, and Dairy Products Regulations previously notified in G/LIC/N/3/CAN/16.
Under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, the import licensing procedure will apply to all imported food other than food additives, beverages that contain more than 0.5% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume and foods used as a grain, oil, pulse, sugar or beverage (listed in Schedule 1 of the regulations) that meet specific conditions specified in section 11 of the regulations.
To learn more about the requirements please visit http://inspection.gc.ca/food/sfcr/imports/eng/1526656151226/1526656151476
A CFIA import licence will apply to importers of most food into Canada (as described in 2(a)). Once the SFCR come into force on January 15, 2019, some requirements will have to be met immediately. Other requirements will be phased in over a period of 12‑30 months based on food commodity, type of activity and business size.
For example, importers of some foods will not require an import licence until July 2020.
Please review the following website for important timeline information:
http://inspection.gc.ca/food/sfcr/timelines/eng/1528199762125/1528199763186
SFCR was previously notified to the following WTO Committees:
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade in G/TBT/N/CAN/394 (19 July 2013), G/TBT/N/CAN/394/Rev.1 (6 June 2014), G/TBT/N/CAN/394/Rev.1/Add.1 (15 July 2014), G/TBT/N/CAN/394/Rev.2 (25 January 2017), and G/TBT/N/CAN/394/Rev.2/Add.1 (15 June 2018).
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in G/SPS/N/CAN/700 (8 July 2013), G/SPS/N/CAN/700/Rev.1 (5 June 2014), G/SPS/N/CAN/700/Rev.1/Add.1 (15 July 2014), G/SPS/N/CAN/700/Rev.2 (24 January 2017), and G/SPS/N/CAN/700/Rev.2/Add.1 (14 June 2018).
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