Canada’s Organic Product Regulations (OPR): Expiration of Stream Of Commerce and Enforcement

Information from the Organic Agricultural Center of Canada

The Stream of Commerce and Enforcement Policy will expire onJune 30, 2011, and will be replaced by standard CFIAcompliance and enforcement activities. This two-year implementation policy was designed to allow producers to make the adjustments required to become fully compliant with the regulations.

The new regulations will include the following:

• detaining non-compliant products and/or removingthem from store shelves• correcting non-compliant labelling• returning non-compliant imported products to thecountry of originThe Organic Products Regulations have been developed to• protect consumers against misleading or deceptivelabelling practices,• reduce consumer confusion about the definition of“organic”,• facilitate the access of Canadian organic products toforeign markets that require regulatory oversight, and• support further development of the domestic market fororganic food products.

The regulations set out rigorous standards for certifyingproducts as organic by accredited certification bodies.

Products that meet the production requirements and containat least 95 percent organic content may be labelled as“organic” and may feature the Canada Organic logo.These regulations apply to both domestic and importedproducts. Regardless of origin, all products seeking organiccertification must meet Canada’s standards.

Producers who wish to become certified under the OrganicProducts Regulations must develop an organic productionsystem based on the Canadian Organic Standards and havetheir products certified by an accredited certification body.Certified organic products must also bear the name of thecertification body that has certified the product as organic.

For more information on Canada’s Organic Product Regulations, please visit the CFIA website at

www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/orgbio/orgbioe.shtml.