. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/CAN/282 
2 April 2007 
 (07-1358) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  CANADA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:   
2. Agency responsible:  Health Canada 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):   Fresh/frozen tuna, shark, swordfis h, escolar, marlin and orange roughy 
(ICS: 67.120.30)  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable:  This 
measure applies to the above-noted types of fi sh from all sources.  Based on trade statistics, 
major suppliers are:  United States, Japan, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Fiji and New Zealand. 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Updated Canadian 
Standards for Total Mercury in Retail Fish (available in English and French; 1 page) 
6. Description of content:  Health Canada has updated its standard for mercury in fish by 
establishing a maximum limit of 1.0 parts per million (ppm) total mercury in several types 
of predatory fish:  fresh/frozen tuna, shark, sw ordfish, escolar, marlin and orange roughy.  
For all other fish, the maximum limit will remain at 0.5 ppm. 
7. Objective and rationale: [ X ] food safety,  [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, 
[   ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests   
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation: 
[ X ] Codex Alimentarius Commission,  [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention,  [   ] None 
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:  CAC/GL 7-1991:  Guideline Levels for 
Methylmercury in Fish – 0.5 ppm (all fish except predatory fish) and 1 ppm (predatory fish such as shark, swordfish, tuna, pike, and others ).  The list of predatory fish in the Codex 
standard is not fully prescriptive because it has not been possible to identify all predatory 
fish that would be applicable on a global basis. G/SPS/N/CAN/282 
Page 2  
 
   Health Canada's updated standard deviates fro m the Codex standard in that the maximum 
limits are for total mercury, rather than meth ylmercury, because total mercury is more cost 
effective and straightforward to analyze than methylmercury.  Analyzing for total mercury, 
rather than methylmercury, is acceptable sin ce methylmercury is the predominant form of 
mercury in finfish.  
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Available in English 
and French on Health Canada's website:   
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/secur it/chem-chim/mercur/index_e.html  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  11 July 2007 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  11 July 2007 
12. Final date for comments:  13 June 2007 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body:   
13. Texts available from:  [ X ] National notifi cation authority, [   ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:   
Background information can be accessed from the following Health Canada website: 
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/secur it/chem-chim/mercur/index_e.html