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On December 7, 2011, the COO and the CB Working Group agreed on a proposed model and template for reporting the Cancellations and Suspensions of COR Operators. The template has been provided by your CVB, IOAS, and is also available upon request from Angela Jackson at jackson@ioas.org. CBs are required to return the template by the 25th of each month even if there is nothing to report. The reporting must include both cancellations and suspensions including voluntary withdrawals. View our official notice.

Background
On June 30, 2009 the Canada Organic Regime (COR) came into effect. The main implications for certification bodies working within Canada is that they have to be formally accredited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) through one of a number of approved conformity verification bodies (CVBs - accreditation bodies).

For those certifying exports to the territory, access may either be through equivalency recognition of a country regulatory system (eg. USA and Europe) or by direct accreditation by one of a number of approved CVBs.

The IOAS is approved as a CVB by the Canada Organic Office (COO) and can provide the necessary assessment service for certification bodies operating anywhere in the world alongside any of its other programmes.

Certification bodies certifying product within Canada or entering Canada must inspect operations against the Canadian Organic Standards and Permitted Substance Lists published by the Canadian General Standards Board unless an equivalence agreement is in place. Currently (February 2010) these standards are only available in English and French. Both issues of language and price are obstacles to application of these standards across the world are being discussed by the COO.

Farms and factories certified under an accredited Canada programme can use the Canadian organic logo on their products. Through the Canada/USA Organic Equivalency Agreement these same operators can gain access to the US market and may also use the USDA Organic Seal (some exceptions exist) and they have access to the Taiwan organic market through the recognition of the COR by that country.