Safe Food for Canadian Regulations: what changes from July 15
Centro Studi Italia Canada returns to deal with the Safe food for Canadian Regulations on the occasion of a new deadline which makes operational some very important provisions for the Italian food industry
The Safe Food for Canadian Regulations (SFCR) is the reform of the food safety legislation that applies within the Canadian territory which came into force on 15 January 2019.
Some requirements, however, entered into force gradually, depending on the food product, the type of activity and the size of the company. A timeline of which is very important to know the details.
In January 2019, the new law on Canadian food safety taking into account the new rules and submitted a series of products including:
- Dairy product
- eggs and processed egg products
- processed fruit or vegetable products
- fish
- meat and animal food products
- fresh fruit or vegetables
- honey and maple products
- unprocessed foods used such as wheat, oil, legumes, sugar or drinks
- food additives and alcoholic drinks
The deadline of July 15, 2020: which products are involved
The July 15, 2020 came under the magnifying glass of the new regulations some food products that were not included in the list provided upon entry into force.
The other product categories that have entered the SFCR rules since July 15 are:
- sweets
- snacks
- drinks
- oils
- dried herbs and spices
- nuts and seeds
- coffee and tea
- processed cereal-based foods such as baked goods, cereals and pasta
Why is it important to adapt to the new Canadian legislation
We have already had the opportunity to highlight in previous articles how the new Canadian food safety law applies directly and exclusively to Canadian subjects (importers) but, as a result, also produces effects on foreign exporters.
In fact, with the new legislation, Canadian importers are exclusively responsible for the entry into the country of food products compliant with the new legislation and will therefore have to carry out the necessary assessments on the compliance, by exporters, of the Canadian regulations.
What does all this mean?
The Canadian importer is responsible for the products he imports and therefore must ensure in advance that the companies from which he imports the food products are in compliance with the provisions of Canadian legislation.
It is worth noting that the Canadian legislation, which came into force for the purpose of aligning the Canadian legislation with those adopted in 2015 by the United States, has completely different rules and verification procedures from those provided for by the US legislation.
The entry into force of the new regulations must not find the Italian authorities or the food industry unprepared. In the absence of an in-depth analysis of the rules and an adaptation to them, Italian operators could find themselves in serious difficulty.
The audit of the Canadian authorities in February 2019
In this sense, an explicit reference is made to an audit carried out by the Canadian authorities in Italy during February 2019.
The Canadians have requested the adoption by the companies (which export meat and meat products to Canada) of a series of measures to be adopted within a fairly stringent deadline, on December 31st.
Companies that do not comply with the requirements will be deleted from the list of plants authorized for export to Canada.
The message that we want to convey to the authorities and companies is to carefully evaluate the provisions of Canadian legislation which, we repeat, are different from those provided for by US legislation.
Proper training and information on how to implement the requirements of the SFCR would have the effect of not causing bias to Italian companies that want to export to Canada.
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