The Canadian Organic Regime (COR) was designed to protect consumers, reduce confusion about organic definitions, facilitate access to markets requiring oversight, and support the Canadian domestic organic market. The COR is comprised of the Organic Products Regulations enforced by the Canada Organic Office of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, following the Canadian Organic Standards. Conformity Verification Bodies assess certification bodies, which conduct third-party verification of organic production systems through verification officers. The standards define organic product requirements and permitted substances lists. Equivalency agreements allow imports from countries with consistent regulatory systems. Ongoing challenges include funding the Permitted Substances List Committee.

1. The Canadian Organic
Regime 2016
Janine Gibson, Standards Interpretation Committee, Canada Organic Office;
Organic Technical Committee, Canadian General Standard Board (CGSB)
IOIA Advanced Training, April 2016 Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, Korea

2. COR System Outline
• The components of Canadian Organic Regime were designed to:
• Protect consumers from deceptive labelling;
• Reduce confusion about the definition of organic;
• Facilitate the access of Canadian organic products into markets
that need regulatory oversight;
• Support further development of the Canadian domestic market.

3. COR System Outline 2016
• Comprised of the Organic Products Regulations (OPR) enforced by
• The Canada Organic Office(COO) of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
(CFIA) www.inspection.gc.ca which provides oversight:
• Based on a third party delivery model;
• The COO Operating Manual aids the CFIA in implementation of OPR
following the Canadian Organic Standards (COS) created by sector
representatives active on the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB)
Organic Committee

4. COR Structure
• Conformity Verification Bodies (CVBs) assess certification bodies to
determine they meet the criteria for accreditation by CFIA.
• Accredited certification bodies (ACBs) are monitored for ongoing
compliance by the CVBs.
• All organic production systems verification is conducted by third party
verification officers contracted or hired by ACBs.

5. COR System Outline 2016
• The Organic Products Regulations define specific requirements for organic
products to be labeled as such. The Guidance Document Repository at
www.inspection.gc.ca is a useful resource to answer questions.
• The COS are structured in three sections:
• CAN/CGSB 32:310 General Principles and Management Standards
• CAN/CGSB 32:311 Permitted Substance List
• The Annexes

6. The Primary Standard
• CAN/CGSB 32:310 Organic Production Systems: General principles and
management standards
• CAN/CGSB 32:311 Organic Production Systems: Permitted substances lists
• Organic Standards Interpretation Committee – Questions and Answers on
the national standard on Organic Production Systems
• www.organicfederation.ca Standards Interpretation

7. General Principles and Management Standards
• 1. Scope 2. Normative References
• 3. Terms and definitions 4. Organic plan
• 5. Crop production 6. Livestock production
• 7. Specific production requirements:
Apiculture, Maple, Mushroom, Greenhouse, Wild Crop

8. General Principles and Management Standards
• 8. Maintaining organic integrity during cleaning, preparation &
transportation
• 9. Organic product composition
• 10. Procedures, criteria and conditions to amend CAN/CGSB-32:311
• Annex A Categorization of Organic Products;
• Annex B Historic Principles

9. Permitted Substances Lists
• Crop production
• 4.2 Soil amendments and crop nutrition
• 4.3 Crop production aids & material
• Livestock Production
• 5.2 Feed, feed additives and feed supplements
• 5.3 Health care products and production aids

10. Permitted Substances Lists
• Preparation, Cleaners, Disinfectants
and Sanitizers
• 7.3 Food-grade cleaners…permitted
without a mandatory removal event
• 7.4 Cleaners, disinfectants and
sanitizers permitted on organic
product contact surfaces for which a
removal event is mandatory
• Facility Management Substances
• 8.2 Facility Pest Management
• 8.3 Post harvest substances
• Annex A- Alphabetized List of
Substances (informative)

11. Equivalency Agreements 2016
• Canada establishes equivalency arrangements after assessing and comparing
the two regulatory systems, including the standards, if the principles and
outcomes are consistent.
• All organic imports must be certified by a body accredited by that country
and recognized by Canada. These products may use the Canada Organic
Logo.
• All food sold in Canada must comply with the Food and Drug Act and
Regulations and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act & Regulation.

12. Equivalency Agreements 2016
• Costa Rica, European Union, Japan, Switzerland, United States
• Equivalency Determination- is outlined in the Canada Organic Office
Procedure for Equivalency Determination
• Peer reviews are conducted to verify effectiveness of the Equivalency
arrangements based on the Canada Organic Office Peer Review Procedure.

13. Issues & Successes in Service Delivery
• Challenges to fund and structure an ongoing Permitted Substance List
• Committee (PSL) rather than meet every 5 years...
• Structure options: like the Standards Interpretation Committee
• elected from the members of the Canadian General Standards Board
(CGSB) Organic Technical Committee by the provincial representatives
seated on the Organic Federation of Canada (OFC)
• Joint committee between the COO and the OFC www.organicfederation.ca

14. Thank you for your Interest in COR!
• With appreciation to the COO Staff and specifically Benoit Dube.
• Canada Organic Office www.inspection.gc.ca; OPR.RPB@inspection.gc.ca
• The Organic Federation of Canada www.organicfederation.ca
• Canada Organic Trade Association www.cota.ca Canadian Organic Growers
www.cog.ca