. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/N/CAN/597 
9 May 2012  
 (12-2491) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
1. Notifying Member:  CANADA 
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:  Health Canada 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numbe r(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO;  ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):   Food in general (ICS Code: 67.040) 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable: 
[X] All trading partners   
[ ] Specific regions or countries:    
5. Title of the notified document:  Proposed amendments to the Food and Drugs Act, as 
reflected in Division 19 of Part 4 of the Jobs, Growth and Long-te rm Prosperity Act , 2012 
Language:  English and French  Number of pages:  6 
6. Description of content:  As part of the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act , the 
government of Canada is making amendments to the Food and Drugs Act  to streamline the 
regulatory process while maintaining the same sc ientific rigor needed for the approval of 
safe foods. 
These amendments found in Division 19 of Part 4 will permit the Minister of Health to 
issue marketing authorizations that exempt a food, or an advertisement with respect to a 
food, from certain provisions of the Food and Drugs Act.  The division also provides that a 
regulation with respect to a food and a marketing authorization may incorporate by reference any document. It also makes c onsequential amendments to other Acts. 
The amendments propose two targeted changes to the Food and Drugs Act . The first is a 
new authority called a Marketing Authorization.  This allows the Minister of Health to act on certain safety decisions such as permitting th e use of specific substances in foods (e.g. 
food additives) and allowing certain new h ealth claims on foods.  The Marketing 
Authorization would also allow the Minister  to set specific conditions on these approvals. 
The second change is to allow broader referenc ing of outside public documents as part of 
regulations, termed incorporation by refere nce.  This amendment would also include 
documents developed by the department.  
The Interim Marketing Authorization will be replaced by the Marketing Authorization. 
Existing Interim Marketing Authorizations will c ontinue to be in force up until the end of 
their two year timeframe.  This will ensure th at there is no interruption to industry being 
able to market their approved products, or to  consumers being able to continue to access the 
products they want. G/SPS/N/CAN/597 
Page 2  
 
  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. Is there a relevant international stan dard?  If so, identify the standard:  
[ ] Codex Alimentarius Commission (e.g.  title or serial number of Codex standard 
or related text)   
[ ] World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) (e.g. Terrestrial or Aquatic 
Animal Health Code, chapter number)    
[ ] International Plant Protection Convention (e.g. ISPM number)    
[X] None Does this proposed regulation conform to the relevant international standard?   
 [ ] Yes   [ ] No 
 If no, describe, whenever possible, how and why it deviates from the 
international standard:    
9. Other relevant documents and language (s) in which these are available:  Parliament of 
Canada Website, Publications (Ava ilable in English and French)  
10. Proposed date of adoption (dd/mm/yy) :  The Bill is currently before Parliament – the date 
of adoption is unknown at this time. 
Proposed date of publication (dd/mm/yy) :  On the date the measure is adopted. 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  [ ] Six months from date of publication , and/or  
(dd/mm/yy) :  On the date the measure is adopted. 
[ ] Trade facilitating measure   
12. Final date for comments:  [ ] Sixty days from the date of circulation of the notification 
and/or (dd/mm/yy) :  2 July 2012 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [X] National Notification 
Authority, [ ] National Enquiry Point.  Address, fax number and e-mail address (if 
available) of other body:    
13. Texts available from:  [ ] National Notification  Authority, [X] National Enquiry Point.  
Address, fax number and e-mail address (if available) of other body:    
The electronic version of the legisl ative text can be downloaded at:  
"http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/P ublication.aspx?Mode =1&DocId=5524772&La
nguage=E&File=809 "