New Feeds Regulations, 2024

Summary#

The final rules called the Feeds Regulations, 2024 replace the old Feeds Regulations, 1983 and set new safety, labelling, traceability and licensing rules for animal feed. The regulations were registered on June 17, 2024 and published in the Canada Gazette on July 3, 2024.
Many parts will come into force in stages (see “What it does”); the overall aim is a more risk‑based system run by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

What it does#

• Replaces the old rules with the Feeds Regulations, 2024, modernizing Canada’s feed law to focus on preventing hazards rather than only checking finished products.
• Requires businesses that make, store, package, label, sell, import for sale, or export certain feeds to:
  • identify biological, chemical and physical hazards and keep a written preventive control plan (PCP);
  • keep traceability records for purchases and sales and keep related documents for two years;
  • have recall and complaint procedures.
• Introduces a new licensing system for businesses doing specified activities with feeds that are imported for sale, exported, or moved between provinces. Licences last two years; fees will be set later.
• Changes how feed ingredients and mixed feeds are handled:
  • keeps a CFIA approval process for new or novel feed ingredients and updates the processes for registering some mixed feeds;
  • reduces the number of mixed feeds that must be registered by using risk and label claims to decide what still needs registration.
• Updates labelling rules to require an identification code (lot number) and bilingual health/safety statements where they matter. It also allows a set of “permissible claims” and optional guarantees to appear on labels via documents incorporated by reference.
• Establishes or updates safety limits and standards (for nutrients, contaminants, salmonella, weed seeds, etc.) in documents that can be updated without changing the main regulation.
• Expands the list of animals covered (adds various game birds, bison, water buffalo, cervids, llamas, alpacas, molluscs, crustaceans, bees; removes fur animals like mink and foxes) and clarifies several exemptions (e.g., farm-grown feed sold by the grower, small samples, certain research feeds).
• Incorporates by reference nine CFIA technical documents so those tables and compendia (for example, the Canadian Feed Ingredients Table and the Compendium of Medicating Ingredient Brochures) can be updated more quickly.

Note on timing: the regulations tie their main start date to the coming‑into‑force of subsection 53(1) of the Agricultural Growth Act. Some parts are delayed:

• a phased approach includes a one year delay for PCPs and some labelling/traceability rules;
• an 18 months delay for licensing and some other provisions;
• other provisions come into force on the first anniversary or at other specified times. The exact dates depend on when the Agricultural Growth Act provision is brought into force.

Who's affected#

• Feed businesses: commercial feed manufacturers, single‑ingredient manufacturers, premix and supplement makers, specialty feed producers.
• On‑farm feed makers who sell feed off‑farm or who use medicating ingredients (many small farms).
• Feed retailers and distributors.
• Importers and exporters of feed.
• Livestock producers who buy feed (indirectly affected by label and safety changes).
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) (enforcement and oversight) and Health Canada (role on medicating ingredients and veterinary drugs).
  If it’s unclear whether a particular feed or activity is covered, the rules allow consultation and some exemptions for low‑risk cases.

Why it matters#

• Safety: the rules aim to reduce feed contamination that can harm animals, people or the environment by making producers identify hazards and put controls in place before problems happen.
• Trade and clarity: the use of a public Canadian Feed Ingredients Table and other compendia should make it clearer which ingredients and label claims are allowed. The rules move Canada closer to systems used by major trading partners, which can help exports and imports.
• Business impact: the CFIA’s analysis estimates the rules will cost industry about $527.7 million in present value over 10 years, with monetized benefits of about $8.1 million; the net monetized cost in that analysis is $519.7 million over 10 years (annualized about $74.0 million). Small businesses make up most affected operators; the analysis estimated an average annualized cost of about $4,097 per small business.
• Timing and compliance: many new requirements are phased in (see “What it does”), so businesses have time to prepare. CFIA plans guidance, templates and a model PCP system to help with the transition.
• Practical effect for everyday users: better labelled feeds (including safety info in English and French where needed), improved traceability in case of a problem, and potentially fewer and more focused recalls — but some feed suppliers (especially small operations) will need to spend time and money to meet new preventive controls, record‑keeping and licensing rules.

If you want more detail about the timing for a specific rule or about which feeds need registration or approval, say which feed or activity you have in mind and I’ll pull out the relevant part.