Recently, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has announced updates to the requirements for certain pet foods from the US.

Following is the message received from the CFIA:

On April 13th, 2021 two new sets of import conditions will come into effect for pet food from the United States, one for heat-treated pet food, and one for raw/minimally heat-treated pet food.

The conditions will be posted in the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS).

To qualify for import as heat-treated pet food, the animal-origin ingredients must have undergone the following treatments:

• Egg ingredients: 57 °C for 27 minutes
• Poultry ingredients: 65 °C for 14 minutes, or 74 °C for 5 minutes
• Cattle, sheep, goat or swine ingredients: 70 °C for 30 minutes, 79 °C for 30 seconds, or 90 °C internal temperature

Otherwise, the pet food must be imported using the conditions for raw/minimally heat-treated pet food.

For an 8 week transition period following the implementation, either the new or old conditions will be accepted. An import permit will no longer be required for raw/minimally heat-treated pet food from the US following the implementation date.

Any questions or comments may be sent to the CFIA at: cfia.apabpimport-importationpespa.acia@canada.ca.

As a valued client of PCB Customs Brokers, we will keep a close eye on this update and inform you of any new information that arises.

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