. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/CAN/347 
29 September 2008  
 (08-4580) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
 
  
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 numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  Meat, poultry, and fish products (ICS Code:  67.120, 67.220)  
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  All 
trading partners 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Interim Marketing 
Authorization regarding the use of sodium diacetate as a preservative in standardized and 
unstandardized preparations of meat, meat by-products, poultry me at, poultry meat by-
products, prepared and pr eserved fish products (a vailable in English and French,  2 pages) 
6. Description of content:  Health Canada has received submissions to permit the use of 
sodium diacetate as a preservative in standard ized and unstandardized preparations of meat, 
meat by-products, poultry meat , poultry meat by-products, pr epared and preserved fish 
products, including fresh and frozen prepared me als, salads, spreads and soups containing 
meat, poultry or fish; flakes of meat; sausages including fresh uncooked sausage, preserved or 
cured sausage, salami, wiener , frankfurter, blood sausage, black pudding, blood pudding, 
blood and tongue sausage; potted m eat; meat pâté; liver paste; liver  spread; pâté de foie; meat 
loaf; meat lunch; luncheon meat; corned beef ; ham; bacon; meat roll; meat pie, brawn and 
headcheese, all at a maximum level of use of 0.25% of final product weight. Evaluation of 
available data supports the safety and effectiven ess of sodium diacetate as a preservative in 
the production of these food products.  
Therefore, it is the intention of Health Canada to recommend that the Food and Drug 
Regulations be amended to permit the use of sodi um diacetate as a preservative in 
standardized and unstandardize d preparations of meat, meat by-products, poultry meat, 
poultry meat by-products, prepared and preserved fish products, at a maximum level of use of 
0.25% of final product weight. 
As a means to improve the responsiveness of the regulatory system, an Interim Marketing 
Authorization (IMA) is be ing issued to permit the immediate use of sodium diacetate in the 
production of standardized flakes of meat, sausages including fresh uncooked sausage, 
preserved or cured sausage, salami, wiener, frankfurter, blood sausag e, black pudding, blood 
pudding, blood and tongue sausage; potted meat; meat  pâté; liver paste; liver spread; pâté de 
foie; meat loaf; meat lunch; luncheon meat; co rned beef; ham; bacon; meat roll; meat pie; G/SPS/N/CAN/347 
Page 2  
 
  brawn; headcheese and meat spread, and unstandardized cooked and uncooked foods 
containing meat, poultry and fish , all at a maximum level of use of 0.25% of final product 
weight, while the regulatory process is undertaken to amend the Regulations.  
The proposed regulatory amendments would be enabling measures to allow the sale of 
additional foods containing sodium diacetate as a preservative.  The amendments are 
supported by the safety assessment and woul d have low impact on the economy and the 
environment.  Consequently, the regulatory amendments may proceed directly to final 
approval and publication in the Canada Gazette , Part II. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [   ] animal health,  [   ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,  [   ] protect territory from other damage from pests    
8. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [   ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [ X ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate 
reference and briefly identify deviations:    
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   Canada Gazette , 
Part I, 20 September 2008, Pages 2628-2629 (available in English and French) 
10. Proposed date of adoption:  Immediate for this IMA. For the final regulation, normally 
within 12-18 months of publication of the Noti ce of Interim Marketing Authorization in the 
Canada Gazette , Part I, 20 September 2008. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  Immediate for this IMA. For the final regulation, 
normally within 12-18 months of publicati on of the Notice of Interim Marketing 
Authorization in the Canada Gazette , Part I, 20 September 2008. 
12. Final date for comments:  4 December 2008 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [   ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or  address, fax number and E-mail address (if 
available) of other body: 
13. Texts available from:  [   ] National notifica tion authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, 
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: 
The electronic version of the regulator y text can be downloaded at:   
http://canadagazette.gc.c a/partI/2008/20080920/pdf/g1-14238.pdf   (Canada Gazette ) 
or  
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/part I/2008/20080920/html/notice-e.html#d101  (English) 
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/part I/2008/20080920/html/notice-f.html#d101  (French)