Q.   Can a US-based, SFCR-licenced importer ship a food product directly into Canada from a foreign country of manufacture if the product is covered under an FDA import program (e.g., FSVP)?

A. The short answer is no. The long answer and explanation follow.

The Safe Food for Canadians Regulation (SFCR) s. 12(1)(b) covers the importing of food into Canada by a non-resident importer (NRI). As discussed in the CFIA guidance, “the SFCR requires that a NRI must send the food directly to Canada from a CFIA recognized foreign state. For food other than meat and live or raw shellfish, the United States (US) is currently the only recognized foreign state from which a NRI can send certain foods directly to Canada.”

The intent of the policy is to allow only products manufactured in the US under US jurisdiction (or other countries that might establish a recognition agreement with Canada) to be imported to Canada. So even if the food is covered under an importer’s Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) or other FDA import program (e.g., Seafood Rule), the products must be first imported to the U.S. There, it would be subject to US government oversight. Meeting that approval, it could then be shipped to Canada. So, a US-based company cannot arrange for food products to be shipped directly to Canada from a third country – even if the supplier is covered under their FSVP.

As an example, a US company has a French supplier of a cheese product that it is covered by their FDA FSVP and sold in the US.  They want to add this product to their Canadian product offerings shipping it directly from France to Canada under their SFCR import licence, adding the product to their SFCR import Preventive Controls Plan (PCP). 

While the company cannot do this directly, they have two options:

• They could import the product to the US following all US regulations, then import it on to Canada following all applicable regulations there.
• They could have an SFCR-licenced Canadian company import the product, then work with them once the product is in Canada.

There are some exceptions to this, including meat products and live or raw shellfish, which an NRI could import directly to Canada from a foreign state if the inspection system for the meat or shellfish has been recognized by the CFIA under Part 7 of the SFCR.

Additionally, some commodities have specific requirements that need to be met prior to import into Canada as specified in Food-specific import requirements.