Notice to industry – Changes to the Canadian Grade Compendium: Volume 9 – Import Grade Requirements

June 21, 2023

On this page

• Summary of changes
• Transition period
• Products subject to change
• Contact us

Summary of changes

This notice is to inform industry that, due to a translation error, the French version of the Canadian Grade Compendium: Volume 9 – Import Grade Requirements has been updated. The CFIA will offer a transition period to accommodate any required label changes.

The correction was made to the Table of Import Grade Names for Imported Food for Item 34. Processed Fruit or Vegetable Product in a hermetically sealed package. For item 34 only, the word "NORMALE" has been changed to "RÉGULIÈRE" to align with the translation in the Canadian Grade Compendium: Volume 3 – Processed Fruit or Vegetable Products for processed fruit or vegetable products in hermetically sealed packages and the existing text in the Industry Labelling Tool. No changes were made to the English version of the Canadian Grade Compendium: Volume 9.

The Canadian Grade Compendium is incorporated by reference into the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. Changes to these documents follow the CFIA Incorporation by Reference Policy. The amended French version can be found in the Inventory of documents incorporated by reference in regulations that the CFIA administers.

Transition period

The CFIA recognizes that industry may need time to adjust labels of affected imported products. A transition period will be offered from June 21, 2023, when this change came into force, to December 31, 2025. This is in keeping with the Health Canada-CFIA Food Labelling Coordination Policy that establishes predictable compliance dates for food labelling changes.

During the transition period, the French grade name declaration on the labels of affected products may have either the previous import grade name (NORMALE), or the corrected import grade name (RÉGULIÈRE).

As of January 1, 2026, only the corrected import grade name RÉGULIÈRE will be allowed on labels.

Products subject to change

This change applies to the following imported processed fruit or vegetable products in hermetically sealed packages:

• sliced apples
• apricots (whole or halved)
• asparagus (tips or spears)
• asparagus (cuts or cuttings)
• green beans with seasoning, wax beans with seasoning, green beans (without seasoning) and wax beans (without seasoning)
• lima beans
• beets (whole)
• beets (sliced)
• beets (diced or cubed)
• beets (cut or quartered)
• beets (julienne or shoestring)
• blueberries
• strawberries
• carrots (whole)
• carrots (sliced)
• carrots (diced or cubed)
• carrots (julienne or shoestring)
• cherries (red, sour, pitted)
• cherries (sweet)
• maraschino cherries, creme de menthe cherries and cocktail cherries
• whole corn or cut kernel corn (with or without seasoning)
• cream style corn
• corn on the cob
• fruit cocktail
• fruits for salad
• fruit salad
• mixed vegetables (macédoine)
• whole mushrooms, button mushrooms, sliced button mushrooms and sliced mushrooms
• peaches (whole, halved, sliced, diced or quartered)
• pears (whole, halved, sliced, diced or quartered)
• plums and prune plums
• peas
• peas and carrots, carrots and peas
• white potatoes (whole)
• white potatoes (sliced)
• white potatoes (diced or cubed)
• white potatoes (julienne, shoestring, regular cut or crinkle cut)
• sweet potatoes (whole or cut)
• pumpkin
• squash
• spinach
• tomatoes (whole, almost whole, whole and pieces, wedges, sliced, diced or chopped)
• stewed tomatoes
• concentrated tomato juice or tomato juice concentrate
• tomato puree
• tomato pulp
• tomato paste and concentrated tomato paste
• tomato catsup, catsup, tomato ketchup or ketchup
• tomato chili sauce

Contact us

Please send questions or concerns to cfia.labellingconsultation-etiquetage.acia@inspection.gc.ca.