Safe Food for Canadians Regulations

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has published the final Safe Food for Canadian Regulations on 13 June 2018. The new regulatory framework incorporates existing commodity-based regulations into a single, more outcome-based regulation. These regulations were previously notified 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), and G/SPS/N/CAN/700/Rev.2 (24 January 2017).

The Regulations establish three key food safety elements: licensing, traceability, and safety requirements related to the preparation of food and preventive control plans. These elements apply to all food that is imported, or prepared for export or inter-provincial trade.

Canadian and international stakeholders will have a period of six months to get ready to meet the new requirements before they come into force on 15 January 2019.  Information and guidance resources are available at the following link to help businesses understand and transition to the new regulations.http://inspection.gc.ca/food/sfcr/eng/1512149177555/1512149203296 (English)http://inspection.gc.ca/aliments/rsac/fra/1512149177555/1512149203296 (French)

Some of the key changes that resulted from the comments received on the pre-publication of the SFCR can be found at the following link.http://inspection.gc.ca/eng/1528487420379/1528487420660 (English)http://inspection.gc.ca/fra/1528487420379/1528487420660 (French)