New Brunswick: 3rd Province to Regulate Organic Food

As is reported by CBC, New Brunswick government just created new regulations for the use of “organic” food labels to ensure strict standards are met by organic producers. It has become the third province in Canada to regulate its organic food market, after Quebec and Manitoba.

Producers must now obtain third-party certifications from certification bodies accredited by Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) before they can label their food “organic”.

The Canadian federal government has passed the Organic Products Regulations in 2009, which came into effect on June 30, 2009. Based on the information provided on the website of the federal agency, “(t)he regulations require mandatory certification to the revised Canadian Organic Standards for agricultural products represented as organic in import, export and inter-provincial trade, or that bear the federal organic agricultural product legend (or logo)” ¹, which means food products sold within provinces are not subject to these regulations.

The regulations apply only to “food products, animal feed and products used for the cultivation of plants”. Non-food products, such as aquaculture products, cosmetics, fibres, health care products, etc., are NOT covered in those regulations.

The Canadian Organic Regime relies on third-parties to provide certification services, while CFIA is responsible for compliance verification and enforcement activities of the regulations. Organic operators are required to place the name of their Certification Body on organic product packaging in the manner required by the regulations.

New Brunswick is the third province to regulate organic food market, following Quebec and Manitoba.

For more information on organic products related regulations, please visit CFIA website @ http://www.inspection.gc.ca/.

For more information on organic production in New Brunswick, you can visit the Government of New Brunswick website.

Note 1: The italics and underline added by me.