Food and beverages

The importation into Canada of food for human consumption is subject to licensing under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and Regulations, which are administered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, Canadian food businesses that conduct any of the following activities are required to obtain a licence:

• import food
• manufacture, process, treat, preserve, grade, package, or label food to be exported or sent across provincial or territorial borders
• export food that requires an export certificate – even if not preparing the food
• slaughter food animals from which meat products are derived for export or to be sent across provincial or territorial borders
• store and handle a meat product in its imported condition for inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Import licensing under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and Regulations does not apply to:

• food additives
• alcoholic beverages (beverage that contains more than 0.5% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume)
• unprocessed food listed in Schedule 1 of the SFCR if it:
o will be manufactured, processed or treated for use as grain, oil, pulse, sugar or beverage;
o has a label applied or attached to it, or accompanying it, that bears the expression "For Further Preparation Only" or "pour conditionnement ultérieur seulement", and
o is not a consumer prepackaged food.

Under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, any imported food must be manufactured, prepared, stored, packaged and labelled under conditions that provide the same level of protection as foods made in Canada. To learn more about the requirements for importing food please visit https://inspection.canada.ca/importing-food-plants-or-animals/food-impor....

The provisions of the SFCA and SFCR do not apply to food in the following cases:
• food for personal use, when the food is not intended for commercial use, and
o the quantity of food is equal to or under the maximum quantity limits, found in the document “Maximum Quantity Limits for Personal Use” (http://inspection.gc.ca/about-the-cfia/acts-and-regulations/list-of-acts...); and
o the food is imported, exported, sent or conveyed from one province to another by an individual other than in the course of business; or
o the food is imported or exported as part of the personal effects of an immigrant or emigrant
• food that is carried on any conveyance that is intended for the crew or passengers
• food that is intended and used for analysis, evaluation, research, or a trade show provided that the food is part of a shipment that weighs 100 kg or less or, in the case of eggs, is part of a shipment of five or fewer cases
• food that is not intended or sold for human consumption
• food that is imported from the United States onto the Akwesasne Reserve by a permanent resident of the Reserve for their use
• food that is imported in bond (in transit) for use by crew or passengers of a cruise ship or military ship in Canada
• food that is traded between federal penitentiaries
• transporting a food commodity, if that is the sole activity of a person.

The licensing system is not intended to restrict the quantity or value of imports. Licensing will help the CFIA to:
• better identify food safety risks in order to target inspections
• communicate important food safety information directly to food businesses
• take enforcement actions, ranging from requiring corrective measures to suspending or cancelling a licence, when regulatory requirements are not met.

Importers must ensure they and the food they import meet all the applicable regulatory requirements.

There are no restrictions under the SFCR regarding the quantity or value of food imports.

The licensing system applies to all importers, regardless of the food imported. A person importing food additives, beverages that contain more than 0.5% absolute ethyl alcohol by volume and foods used as a grain, oil, pulse, sugar or beverage (listed in Schedule 1 of the regulations) does not need a licence if those foods meet the requirements stipulated in section 11(2). Other non-quantitative restrictions exist for the import of certain species. For example, the importation of live freshwater mitten crab (genus Eriocheir) or puffer fish (family Tetraodontidae) is not permitted under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.

The import licensing requirement will be ongoing.
The CFIA expects that most import licences will be issued upon application. In some cases, in order to secure the import licence, an assessment may need to be conducted by the CFIA to verify that the conditions specified in section 29 of the regulations are being met.