Upcoming Updates to Organic Product Import Requirements
Starting May 26, 2025, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will implement Phase II of its plan to enhance import requirements for organic products. Under this phase, importers and brokers must upload a digital version of the organic product certificate when submitting declarations through the Integrated Import Declaration (IID) system.
This follows Phase I, which was completed in November 2024. The initial phase focused on tightening import controls for organic food products. It introduced new Other Government Department (OGD) codes in the CFIA’s Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) and required importers and brokers to indicate whether they possessed a valid organic certificate at the time of declaration.
Once Phase II is in effect, declarations that do not include either a digital certificate or a previously issued Unique Reference Number (URN) will be rejected until the appropriate documentation is provided. Importers are advised to review newly added organic product entries in AIRS to ensure they remain compliant with these updated requirements.
For questions or further information, visit https://inspection.canada.ca/en/food-labels/organic-products/import-requirements or reach out to the Canada Organic Regime team at OPR-RPB@inspection.gc.ca.
