Organic Certification
CSI offers organic certification to the Canada Organic Regime and all applicable equivalency arrangements (e.g. NOP, EU, JAS, etc).
For a general overview of the CSI organic certification process, click on this link to see a flowchart describing the steps to certification. For information on CSI fees, please review the CSI Organic Certification Policy Manual section 5.
Canada Organic Regime (COR) - With NOP and EU Equivalency
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) organic program is part of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulation (SFCR). Organic products are regulated under Part 13. The SFCR references the Canada Organic Standards (COS), which are organized into two parts:
- Part I: Organic Production Systems General Principles and Management Standards (CAN/CGSB-32.310-2020) - provides a detailed description of the practices that are acceptable in organic agricultural production and processing systems.
- Part II: Organic Production Systems Permitted Substances Lists (PSL) (CAN/CGSB-32.311-2020) - provides lists of the substances that are permitted for use in the Canada Organic Regime.
On December 11, 2020, the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) published this latest revisions to CAN/CGSB-32.310 and CAN/CGSB-32.311 (December 2020 version). All operators certified under the Canada Organic Regime have one year from the date of publication to comply with the revised clauses of the 2020 Canadian Organic Standards.
CSI is an organic Certification Body accredited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. For more information on the Canada Organic Regime, click here.
Equivalency Arrangements
CFIA has negotiated several equivalency arrangements with various trading partners, including the NOP, the EU and Japan. Each equivalency arrangement is unique and has different requirements with regards to the import and export of organic products, and the use of the conformity mark belonging to each scheme. Each of the equivalency arrangements are described here:
Please contact CSI if you have any questions on whether you need to include equivalency under one of the arrangements in your application, and what that means.
Bio-Suisse Approval for Export to Switzerland
The Bio-Suisse program is a private-label program from Switzerland. This program is different from the Swiss organic regulation, which is covered under an equivalency arrangement. CSI is able to verify to the Bio-Suisse requirements if you require this verification for export. Please contact CSI’s organic program manager if you intend to request Bio-Suisse verification as part of your COR inspection.
