Canada: Deregulation of Soybean Cyst Nematode and New Declarations on Soil-borne Plant Pests

As per the sanitary and phytosanitary measuresnotification issued September 27, 2013 (SPS-CAN-730-13), Canada intends toderegulate Heterodera glycines (soybean cyst nematode) and, as of November 25,2013, will no longer be enforcing import requirements related to this pest.Consequently, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA’s) directive D-08-04has been updated to remove the requirements related to H. glycines for plantsand plant parts intended for planting imported into Canada. An advance copy ofthe updated directive is attached for your information; the updated directivewill be posted to the CFIA’s website on November 25, 2013.

As part of this revision, the existingrequirements related to soil, soil-borne plant pests and packing material indirective D-08-04 have been clarified. The additional declarations related tosoil-borne plant pests required for plants and plant parts from areas otherthan the continental United States have been consolidated into a singleadditional declaration referencing D-08-04. For the continental United States,the additional declaration related to H. glycines is no longer necessary; therequirements related to other soil-borne plant pests have not changed.

It is understood that it may take some time forNational Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) to update their systems withthese requirements and begin using the new additional declarations on PhytosanitaryCertificates for material destined to Canada. Until December 31, 2014, eitherthe old or the new additional declarations for soil-borne plant pests will beaccepted on Phytosanitary Certificates.

It will take some time for the CFIA to amend allexisting Permits to Import to show the new additional declaration; it isexpected that this task will be completed by December 31, 2014. Until then,NPPOs may be presented with Canadian Permits to Import showing either the oldor the new additional declarations for soil-borne plant pests; Permits toImport are valid even if they show the old additional declaration. Rest assuredthat CFIA staff have been instructed to ignore discrepancies related to H.glycines or the revised soil-borne pest additional declarations on importdocuments accompanying material imported into Canada until December 31, 2014.

Please see the CFIA’s web page on soybean cystnematode (http://www.inspection.gc.ca/plants/plant-protection/nematodes-other/soybean-cyst-nematode/eng/1326425480858/1326425556395) for more information.