On July 20, 2023 the CFIA announced the 2023 Import requirements for romaine lettuce and products containing romaine lettuce from the United States.  This year the temporary import requirements are the same as last year.

Romaine lettuce imported from the U.S. have been linked to multiple outbreaks of foodborne E.coli illnesses. CFIA has worked jointly with U.S authorities to identify the source of these outbreaks and to protect Canadians, annually implements temporary Safe Foods for Canadian (SFC) license conditions to mitigate the risk of exposure to this illness.

Complete details on the SFC license conditions and other existing import requirements are outlined here:

• Notice to Industry: Temporary Safe Food for Canadians licence conditions for importing romaine lettuce and salad mixes containing romaine lettuce from the U.S.
• Temporary import requirements for romaine lettuce from the United States (2023)

Following is a Recap of the Import Requirements:

Affected Commodities: Shipments of fresh romaine lettuce, salad mixes, and other products containing romaine which originate in the US.

Imported from the U.S. between: September 28 and December 20, 2023

For romaine and romaine products from the Salinas Valley of California (counties: Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey:

1. Importer Attestation (using form CFIA/ACIA 5961) that sampling was conducted according to the temporary SFC license conditions

• Check your MyCFIA account for the SFC license conditions

AND

2. Certificate of Analysis demonstrating that the product does not contain detectable levels of E. coli O157:H7

For romaine and romaine products from outside the Salinas Valley of California:

1. Proof of Origin indicating the state and county where the romaine lettuce was harvested if the romaine lettuce is from outside of the California counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito and Monterey.  It is recommended that the proof of origin be on the exporter’s letterhead, detail the products or shipment it is applicable to, and be dated and signed.

1. If Proof of Origin of the romaine lettuce is not available, the Importer Attestation and Certificate of Analysis must be provided.

These requirements are in addition to the standard import requirements for vegetables and leafy greens. Existing import requirements for all leafy greens are:

• The importer must have a valid Safe Foods for Canadians (SFC) Licence for importing produce.
• The importer must have a Dispute Resolution Corporation (DRC) membership or be exempt. 
• Romaine (and other leafy greens) from California must be handled by a member of the California Leafy Green Marketing Agreement (LGMA).
• Romaine (and other leafy greens) from Arizona must be handled by a member of the Arizona Leafy Green Marking Agreement (LGMA).
• Organic Products: importers must be in possession of the Organic Certification and be able to provide it upon request to CFIA.

As a valued client of PCB, you receive the benefit of our proactive release process which will ensure your imports are declared with the additional requirements listed above:

1. Upon receipt, our release team ensures all necessary documents that are required for import, are included. 
2. If they are missing we will reach out to you, your carrier, or your vendor to obtain this paperwork (additional fees may apply).

Please reach out to your account manager with any questions you may have about these new requirements at any time by emailing compliance@pcb.ca or calling 604.538.1566. We are here for you always.