The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recently announced the development of a new application for Import Permits for plants, plant products, plant pathogens and insects.

     C5256, the “Application for Permit to Import Plants and Other Things Under the Plant Protection Act” will come into effect immediately, and any old versions of the forms submitted for approval after July 1, 2001 will be returned, with applicants asked to resubmit the information on the new form.

     Copies of this new applications and instructions will be found on the CFIA web site at www.cfia-acia.ag.ca under the “forms” heading.

     The CFIA also stated that certain leniencies are no longer permitted. They include:

• Products arriving at the border without proper documentation will be held until documentation is resubmitted, approved and received back at the border. This can take up to two weeks.
• Applications completed at the time of border arrival will be placed in order and dealt with by the CFIA on a first-come, first-served basis. CFIA advises there will no longer be any preferential treatment.
• Imports will not be permitted to be held in detention at the importer’s facility in isolation pending arrival of new documentation.

     For more information on these changes, please contact Chris Andrews, Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA) at 1-888-446-3499 or your local CFIA office.