Validation of Plant Protection Import Permits Prior to Import

Some commodities regulated under the Plant Protection Act require that the importer possess a valid Plant Protection Import Permit issued by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) prior to the commodity being exported from their country of origin.

As of March 31, 2011, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) will reject any transaction that requires a Plant Protection Import Permit unless the permit number entered is valid and is in the proper format. The proper format is "P-nnnn-nnnnn", where "n" represents a number. In EDI, the Plant Protection Import Permit number is referred to as a "Registration Number".

EDI will return the following messages for invalid permit numbers:

• Invalid Format = CFIA-INVALID REGISTRATION NUMBER Import permit NUMBER format must be P-nnnn-nnnnn
• Invalid Permit Number = CFIA-INVALID REGISTRATION NUMBER Import permit NUMBER NOT valid
• Invalid Permit = CFIA-INVALID REGISTRATION NUMBER Import permit NOT valid

If a transaction is rejected for any of these reasons, the related shipment(s) will not be allowed entry into Canada.

Additional information

Further information on import requirements for commodities, including whether or not their importation requires a Plant Protection Import Permit, is available on the CFIA website:

• Automated Import Reference System
• Plant Protection Policy Directives

Originally issued February 10, 2011 (Notice to Industry)