. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/CAN/177/Rev.2 
2 March 2009  
 (09-1051) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   English 
  
NOTIFICATION 
 
Revision
 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  CANADA   
If applicable, name of local governme nt involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):     
2. Agency responsible:  Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above :   
Canadian Enquiry Point 
200-270 Albert Street, Ottawa, Ontario Canada, K1P 6N7  Tel.:   +1 613 238 3222 
Fax.:  +1 613 569 7808 
E-mail:  enquirypoint@scc.ca
  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [ X ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:   
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading. 
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   
Agricultural products labelled as  organic and marketed in inte r-provincial and international 
trade 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   
Proposed Organic Products Regulations, 2009 (29 pages, in English and French) 
6. Description of content:   
The Organic Products Regulations (OPR) were  promulgated on 14 December 2006, with an 
intended entry-into-force date of 14 December 2008.   This was later exte nded to 30 June 2009 
(G/TBT/N/CAN/177/Rev.1/Add.1). The OPR provi des a framework for a federally regulated 
organic regime in Canada. Si nce their promulgation in 2006, the Canadian Food Inspection 
Agency (Agency) has reviewed the OPR and determined that certain elements required clarification and elaboration. The proposed Regulations will allow the Agency to fully 
implement the Canada Organic Regime and achieve the intende d and expected outcome of a 
federally regulated program for organic agriculture.  
A number of amendments were made to the OPR that address:  
(i) the scope of application;  
(ii) regulatory issues resulting from the adoption of the CGSB 310 Standard and 
Permitted Substances List (PSL) into the regulatory framework;  G/TBT/N/CAN/177/Rev.2 
Page 2  
 
(iii)  the strengthening of the Agency’s ability  to negotiate import-e xport agreements with 
foreign governments;  
(iv)  adjusting export requirements to allo w flexibility in international trade; and  
(v)  consumer confusion through the introducti on of a single organic agricultural product 
legend. 
The proposed Regulations meet the original objec tives of the OPR, including the facilitation 
of international market access, protection of  consumers against deceptive and misleading 
labelling practices through a uniform approach to  organic product certific ation and labelling, 
and supporting further development of the domestic market. The proposed Regulations 
address the issues identified above and add new pr ovisions to preserve the organic nature and 
integrity of organic products. 
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:   
Prevention of deceptive and misleading labelling practices  
8. Relevant documents:    
Canada Gazette, Part I, 14 February, Page s 344-372 (available in English and French) 
Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) St andards (available in English and French) 
- CAN/CGSB-32.310: Organic Production Systems - General Principles and 
Management Standards  
- CAN/CGSB-32.311: Organic Production Syst ems - Permitted Su bstances List  
The Standards CAN/CGSB 32.310 and CAN/ CGSB 32.311 are both available for 
purchase online at:  
http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/cgsb/on_the_net/organic/index-e.html  (English) 
http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/cgsb/on_the_net/organic/index-f.html  (French) 
International Organization for Standardization Standards (ISO) (available in English and 
French)  
- ISO/IEC 17011: Conformity assessment - General requirement s for accreditation 
bodies accrediting conform ity assessment bodies  
- ISO/IEC Guide 65:  General requirement s for bodies operating product certification 
systems 
The ISO/IEC 17011 Standard and the ISO/ IEC Guide 65 are both available for 
purchase at http://www.iso.or g/iso/store.htm  
9. Proposed date of adoption:   
Proposed date of entry into force:   }   30 June 2009 
10. Final date for comments:  29 April 2009 
11. Text available from: National enquiry po int [ X], or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and web-site addres ses, if available of the other body:    
The electronic version of the regulat ory text can be downloaded at: 
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/ partI/2008/20090214/pdf/g1-14307.pdf  (Canada Gazette) or 
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/part I/2008/20090214/html/regle1-e.html  (English)  
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/pa rtI/2008/20090214/html/regle1-f.html  (French)