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CFIA Updates Aquatic Animal Import Requirements

Sep 23, 2015

On September 22, 2015, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced through an update to the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) that additional information is required to import certain aquatic animals from the United States. In addition to the commodity details required under the National Aquatic Animal Health Program (NAAHP) which came in to enforcement on April 8, 2013, further additional data elements are now required to obtain Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) release.

Data elements required (as of March 13, 2013):

Taxonomic (scientific) name or the Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN)
Accurate description of the product being imported - including eviscerated or other for finfish, fresh, chilled or frozen; excluding fillets.
Full name of the exporter and importer
Quantity - including number of containers and weight
Country of Origin

New data elements required (as of September 22, 2015):

Cultured or wild species
Freshwater or marine origin species

Various aquatic species and origins defined:

Cultured aquatic animals - These are grown or made under controlled conditions and would be the products of fish farms.
Wild aquatic animals - These are wild caught fish, not grown in a fish farm.
Marine aquatic animals - These are from saline bodies of water such as seas and oceans.
Fresh water aquatic animals - These come from water with little to no salinity. For example, naturally occurring rivers and lakes; inland fresh water fish farms.

Species currently affected by this update:

Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Coho Salmon (Onocorhynchus kisutch)
Cobia (Rachyecntron canadum)
White perch ((Moronoe Americana)
Striped bass (Morone saxatilis)

Note: Although these are currently the only species requiring these additional data elements, it is highly recommended to include all details for all fish being imported as the CFIA can update their information requirements without notice which can result in border clearance delays.

Who is affected by this update?

While this regulation applies to Canadian seafood importers of certain fin fish from the U.S. at this time, we foresee this expanding to other aquatic animal imports in the coming time.

Impact of non-compliance on your shipments:

Shipments missing data elements required by CFIA will result in the hold up your goods and entries not getting processed in time.

What seafood importers can do:

Ensure all customs release documents include the data elements listed above to clear through both CFIA and CBSA without delay. Contacting us in advance of your shipment being cleared to provide us with the required information will keep delays at bay and allow for a smoother customs clearance process.

Getting your time-sensitive shipments to market on time:

As one of Canada's largest customs brokers for fish and seafood, ABC Customs Brokers strives to clear your perishable products through customs without delay. When necessary, we will do our best to reach out and obtain the incomplete data required to avoid any hindrance to your imports. However, this does not guarantee that your shipment will not be delayed pending receipt of any missing information. To learn more on how this updated requirement impacts your business, please contact our Trade Compliance Team.