| Summary |
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has recently published the Feeds Regulations, 2024. These new regulations replace the previous Feeds Regulations, 1983. These modernized regulations include a range of new, and updated requirements that will improve the safety of livestock feed and the food production continuum, reflect international best practices, and support innovation within the animal feed sector. These changes will be gradually introduced, either through a delayed coming into force, or the use of a transition period to allow stakeholders, including exporters, to adapt to the new regulations.
The new regulations include:
• requirements for regulated parties to develop and implement a preventive control plan which describes hazards associated with commodities and operational activities and how these risks are being mitigated (delayed coming into force of 12 months);
• requirements for more detailed record-keeping to better support risk management along the feed supply chain. Regulated parties will need to keep electronic or paper records of where feeds were purchased, and to whom they were sold, for a period of two years. (delayed coming into force of 12 months);
• updated general and safety standards for feed to better reflect current science, risks, production practices, and technology;
• licensing requirements for prescribed livestock feeds and activities for livestock feeds sold between provinces, exported and imported for sale (delayed coming into force of 18 months);
• an updated, clearer, and broader permissions approach for livestock feeds, namely for the approval of feed ingredients and registration of mixed feeds;
• new labelling requirements that require health and safety information to be in both official languages and the use of identification codes (lot numbers) on all livestock feed labels (coming into force immediately, with a 1-year transition period)
• an expanded scope of livestock species subject to the Feeds Act and Regulations. The following species will be added: game birds (pigeons, pheasants, partridges, quail, grouse, guinea fowl and pea fowl), ratites, bison, water buffalo, cervids, llamas, alpacas, molluscs, crustaceans, and bees. Mink and foxes will no longer be captured as they are not considered food producing animals. Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, swine, poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese), fish, and rabbits will continue to remain in scope;
• updated and clarified exemptions from the Feeds Act and Regulations;
• the incorporation by reference (IBR) of various technical documents. IBR is a drafting technique used to bring the content of a document into a regulation, allowing greater flexibility to maintain an agile and flexible regulatory regime. IBR documents have the same force as the regulation into which they are incorporated. Documents incorporated into the Feeds Regulations, 2024 include: single ingredient feeds; medicating ingredients; non-feed products allowed to be used in feed; nutrient guarantees and conditions allowed on livestock feed labels; maximum nutrientvalues in feed; maximum weed seeds in feed; maximum contaminant levels in feed; permissible claims allowed on livestock feed labels; and prescribed deleterious substances.
Note: This measure is also notified to the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade under G/TBT/N/CAN/645/Add.2
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