How will the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) assess foreign certifying bodies (CBs)?
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will assess foreign certifying bodies by evaluating the equivalency of their standards and the Canadian standards. Equivalency determination with competent governmental authorities will be considered for countries that have regulated organic regimes. For countries with no regulated regime, the Canada Organic Office (COO) will recognize conformity verification bodies to accredit foreign certifying bodies (CBs) that will be certifying in these countries. In either case, the CFIA will require that a list of certifying bodies that are accredited to certify to the Canadian standards be submitted to the Canada Organic Office for administrative purposes. A more specific outline of the process and protocol for the certification of imported organic products is set out in the Quality Management System (QMS) Manual. Equivalence can be defined as the acceptance that different standards or technical regulations fulfill common objectives. In negotiating equ
