How is the Canada Organic Regime structured?
The Canada Organic Regime is based on a third-party service delivery model. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) was established as the competent authority providing oversight to the system. Existing conformity verification bodies that met the criteria set out in the regulations have already entered into agreements with the CFIA . Agreements are currently being formed with other accreditation bodies following an evaluation and verification that they meet these criteria. Conformity Verification Bodies assess certification bodies to determine if they meet the established criteria prior to recommending that they be accredited by the CFIA. They also monitor accredited Certification bodies for ongoing compliance. On-farm and facility organic production system verification are conducted by third-party verification officers employed by accredited certification bodies. Compliance verification and enforcement activities are carried out by the CFIA.
