As of July 4, 2022, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will be making the following service changes at the Centre of Administration for Permissions:
- Change in timing of invoicing and fee collection
The CFIA will charge the service fee when you apply for an animal and plant import permit, or Ministerial Exemption for fresh fruits and vegetables. This includes new applications, renewals and amendments and aims to reflect the current costs of delivering CFIA services. If your permission is not issued, you will not be refunded. - Streamlining Channels for applications
Applications for plant and animal import permissions will only be accepted through My CFIA or postal mail. Those submitted by email will be returned. - Charging Ministerial Exemptions for fresh fruit and vegetables by the number of loads requested on the application
Applications for Ministerial Exemptions for fresh fruit and vegetables will be charged the service fee for the consideration of an application at the time of submission and based on the number of loads as per the CFIA Fees Notice.
The onus is on the applicant to submit a complete and accurate application.
Amendments to Ministerial Exemptions for fresh fruit and vegetables are permitted under limited conditions where changes are not considered significant. These amendments do not have a fee associated with the consideration of the amended application.
An amendment to a Ministerial Exemption for fresh fruit and vegetables will NOT be considered when:
- shipping dates change and the Ministerial Exemption is expired
- shipping dates are outside of the proof of shortage
- the consignee changes
- there is an addition of loads
- there are changes to the commodity type
- there are changes to the purpose of the request
Applications for animal or plant import permits, as well as Ministerial Exemptions for fresh fruits and vegetables, require an assessment by the CFIA. Note that loads in excess will not be refunded.
There is no increase in fees for industry. These fees are being collected to align with the Service Fees Act to reflect the cost for reviewing, assessing the request and if required, issuing the permit. There will be no changes related to how an application is considered or the length of time to review the submission.
Steps to Take to Prepare for July 4th Changes
A My CFIA account is required to submit an application for an import permit. Sign up for a My CFIA account to apply and check the status of your application, and manage and track service requests. Should you have questions or need guidance in completing an application or renewal, you may contact us.
The preferred payment method is the on-account option with a CFIA billing account. Businesses that submit more than one application a year can make billing more efficient by selecting monthly invoicing on-account as their online payment option in My CFIA. To set up an on-account, fill out a form for an Application for Credit (Form CFIA/ACIA 0015).
For information on accounting or invoicing, please refer to the CFIA Fees Notice or contact the National Centre for Accounts Receivable at 1.888.677.2342.