Organic Food and Farming Certification
On June 30, 2009 the Canadian government implemented the Organic
Products Regulation to regulate organic certification in Canada
for organic products. Details on this new regulation are available
on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Canada
Organic Office website and at http://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2009/2009-06-24/html/sor-dors176-eng.html.
The regulations require mandatory certification to the revised
Canadian Organic Standards (Canadian Organic Production Systems
Standards: General Principles and Management Standards and the Permitted
Substances Lists) for agricultural products represented as organic
in import, export and inter-provincial trade, or that bear the federal
organic agricultural product legend (or logo). Exported products
may also be regulated by the importing country. Products produced
and sold with in the same province are not regulated by this regulation
unless they are using the new federal organic logo. It is expected
however that many buyers of organic products may require producers
to certify their organic products as a market requirement.
On June 17, 2009, Canada and the USA entered into an arrangement
recognizing our national organic systems to be equivalent (subject
to several exceptions). Under this agreement all Canadian organic
products shipped to the USA must meet the requirements of the new
Canadian Organic Regulations. For more details see www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/orgbio/orgbioimporte.shtml.
The Canadian Standard for Organic Agriculture was first approved
by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) in 1999. The "Organic
Production Systems General Principles and Management Standards for
Canada" and the "Permitted Substances List" were
written in 2006 and revised in 2008 and 2009 and can be obtained
(no charge) from www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/ongc-cgsb/internet/index-eng.html
. These standards are referenced by the new Organic Products Regulations.
In Ontario there are several certification bodies (CB) that certify
organic farms and food processing operations. Growers or processors
wanting to be certified should contact one of the appropriate certification
bodies and obtain a copy of the certification standards before they
start the transition to organic production. For farms this may be
3-4 years before the production and sale of the certified organic
products.
An inspection is required on farms in the year before certification
and operators must apply to their certification body at least 15
months before harvest of the organic products. In the year of anticipated
certification (and annually thereafter), application should be made
to the certification body in the early spring to allow for timely
review of the applications and to allow the CB to arrange for inspections
during the growing season. Inspectors for organic certifications
are independent from the certification bodies and most are members
of the Independent Organic Inspectors
Association (IOIA)
Under the new regulations all accredited CBs must adhere to the
Canadian standard as the minimum requirement for all organic certification
agencies in Canada. The Canadian Organic Standard also includes
the Permitted Substances List - PSL. The PSL indicates which generic
substances can be used as inputs to produce organic products to
that standard. The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) is
used by some CB's to advise on input products that qualify for use
in organic systems. OMRI has a comprehensive list of substances
and products on their website www.omri.org
which have been reviewed for compliance to the US standards. The
Organic Federation of Canada also has information on a Directory
of Brand Name Inputs allowed in organic agriculture (www.organicfederation.ca/canadian-directory-brand-name-input-allowed-organic-agriculture).
Always check with your certification body on the appropriateness
of inputs in your organic system. Using non-permitted substances
and input products will jeopardize your ability to certify your
product.
A complete list of Canadian accredited Conformity Verification
Bodies (CVB) is available at www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/orgbio/cvbliste.shtml.
The CVB is responsible to assess, recommend the accreditation and
to monitor the Certification Bodies (CB). A complete list of CBs
accredited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to certify
organic products under the Organic Products Regulations, 2009 (both
domestic and globally) can be found at www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/orgbio/cbliste.shtml.
The following are CBs accredited by the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency and known to be operating in Ontario.
Certification Bodies in Ontario
OCPP | Ecocert | QAI
| CSI | OCIA
Pro-Cert Organic Systems Ltd. (formerly OCPP/Pro-Cert Canada Inc.),
Contact: Dave Lockman
2311 Elm Tree Road, P.O. Box 74, Cambray, ON K0M 1E0
Phone: (705) 374-5602,
Fax: (705) 374-5604
E-mail: Infoebo@pro-cert.org
Web site: www.pro-cert.org
Pro-Cert provides organic certification and verification services
beyond the farm gate for client producers and processors in Canada
and the USA. Pro-Cert’s production certification procedures
are available on their website.
Ecocert Canada
Contact: Simon Jacques
Ecocert Canada, Ontario Office
42 Preston Street,
Guelph, Ontario, N1H 3C3
phone: 519-265-3319
e-mail: simon.jacques@ecocert.com
Contact: France Gravel
71, rue Saint-Onésime
Lévis, QC G6V 6W8
Tel: (418) 838-6941, Fax: (418) 838-9823
E-mail: office.canada@ecocert.com
Website: www.ecocertcanada.com
GarantieBio and Ecocert are trademarks for the Ecocert Canada organic
certification program. Our goal is to offer organic producers, processors
and distributors an independent and private certification service.
QAI - Quality Assurance International
Contact: James Cuff
1030 Gordon Street, Unit 204
Guelph, Ontario N1G 4X5
Tel: 519-821-5457, Fax: 519-821-4899
E-mail: jcuff@nsf-isr.org
Website: www.nsf.org
9191 Towne Centre Drive
Suite 510, San Diego, CA 92122 USA
Tel: 858-792-3531, Fax: 858-792-8665
E-mail: qai@qai-inc.com
Web site: www.qai-inc.com
QAI's programs verify organic integrity at each link of the product
handling chain, helping to assure compliance with organic standards
for agricultural producers, food processing facilities, integrated
manufacturing operations, contract packing operations, traders,
distributors, retailers, and ultimately, for consumers. The company
includes operations in the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the European
Union. For more information, visit www.qai-inc.com.
Centre for Systems Integration
Jennifer Scott
37 Teresa Street, London, ON N6C 3K9
Phone: 1-800-979-9015, Fax: 519-675-9958
Email: csi-east@storm.ca
Website: www.csi-ics.com
CSI, the Centre for Systems Integration (a division of the Canadian
Seed Institute), provides organic certification services to farmers
and processors across Canada. CSI is accredited by CFIA and offers
certification to the Canadian Organic Standard. CSI also offers
certification to the JAS Organic Standards for export of product
to Japan; we also offer certification to the EU organic regulations
and the NOP.
OCIA - Organic Crop Improvement Association
Canada
Annie Houde, Eastern Canada Office
297 16th avenue
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec J2X 1A1
Phone: (450) 346-3835, Fax: (450) 346-3835
Email: ahoude@ocia.org
OCIA Canada
Ruth Baumann, Regional Manager
Box 3429, 637 6th Street
Humboldt, Saskatchewan S0K 2A0
Phone: 306-682-3126, Fax: 306-682-3127
Email: Canada@ocia.org
Website : www.ocia.org
OCIA is a non-profit membership organization providing 3rd party
certification of all stages of organic production, processing and
distribution to members throughout North, Central and South America
and Asia. Back issues of their Newsletter as well as the OCIA Certification
Standards are on their website at www.ocia.org.
Current Accreditations of Certification Bodies
For export trade recognition and for Organic Products Regulation
accreditation purposes many of the certification bodies have been
accredited by various accreditation bodies (agencies) to various
standards including ISO Guide 65. The following table shows the
accreditations that are known for the CBs operating in Ontario.
| Certification Body |
SCC |
CAEQ |
COABC |
IOAS |
DAP |
| OCPP/ProCert (OCPRO) |
x
|
x
|
|
|
|
| EcoCert Canada |
|
x
|
|
|
|
| QAI |
|
x
|
|
x
|
|
| OCIA |
|
x
|
|
x
|
|
| CSI |
|
|
|
|
x
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
Certification Verification Bodies such as the ones listed above
operate to ISO-17011 standards and accredit Certification Bodies
to ISO Guide 65 standards.
For information on the certification of organic products in Quebec,
see CARTV - Le Conseil des
appellations réservées et des termes valorisants (CARTV).
There are many international standards. Many countries have their
own standards and negotiate equivalency agreements between countries.
Two additional standards of note are International
Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and CODEX
Alimentarius.
For links to Canadian and International standards and regulations
see the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada website at http://www4.agr.gc.ca/AAFC-AAC/display-afficher.do?id=1183748510661&lang=eng
and the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Canada Organic Office website.
There are also links to Organic certification bodies in the USA
on the following websites:
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