As reported in The Produce Reporter by Blue Book Services on August 1, 2023, the Canadian government has released new temporary licensing rules for importers of US romaine lettuce beginning September 28 and running through December 20, 2023.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CA FIA) summarized these new requirements in their statement outlining the rules:

“To decrease the risk associated with E. coli O157:H7 in romaine lettuce, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is implementing temporary Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) license conditions for the importation of romaine lettuce originating from the U.S. Between September 28 and December 20, 2023, importers of romaine lettuce and/or salad mixes containing romaine lettuce from the U.S. must:

• • declare that the product does not originate from counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito and Monterey in the Salinas Valley, California, U.S., or
  • submit an attestation form and Certificates of Analysis for each shipment to demonstrate that the romaine lettuce does not contain detectable levels of E. coli O157:H7

Shippers sending romaine lettuce from other production regions to Canada during this time should expect to “provide a Proof of Origin indicating the state and county where the romaine lettuce was harvested”. Lack of proof of origin will require significant sampling and testing to assure lack of contamination before it will be allowed to be imported. Full details of this new rule are available on the CA FIA website at https://inspection.canada.ca/importing-food-plants-or-animals/food-imports/food-specific-requirements/romaine-lettuce-from-the-united-states/eng/1601488215302/1601488215678.