Effective September 30, 2021, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will add a temporary condition to specific Fresh Fruit and Vegetable import licences, which will require sampling and testing of some California romaine lettuce prior to import into Canada.
The CFIA will require importers to provide proof that their
romaine lettuce product does not originate from counties in California's
Salinas Valley (Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey), or an
attestation form and certificates of analysis for each shipment to demonstrate
that it does not contain detectable levels of E. coli O157:H7.
These temporary requirements apply to romaine lettuce as well as
mixed salads containing romaine, and will be required from September 30 to
December 31.
The requirements come after repeated contaminated romaine from
those areas of California leading to recalls in the last two years.