Our buyer sent us a certificate name we do not recognise. Is that normal?

Very. Buyers often relay the name their own customs broker uses, which may not map cleanly to a CFIA certificate. Part of this work is translating what the destination is actually asking for into what CFIA actually issues.

Do you issue the certificate?

No. CFIA issues export certificates. We identify which one applies, prepare your establishment and the application, and coordinate it, but the issuing authority is CFIA and the conditions are theirs.

We have never exported before. Where does this start?

With your SFCR licence and your preventive control plan, because the certificate conditions build on them. If the licence scope does not cover what you intend to export, that is the first thing to fix, and it is better found now than after a buyer commits.

Does the certificate travel with the shipment?

The document set that accompanies a consignment varies by destination and by product. We set out what that set is for your route as part of the work, so the shipment is not held for a document nobody mentioned.

Service

CFIA Export Certification Support

Your buyer needs a certificate, and which one is decided by their country rather than by you. CFIA issues it, but only if your plant already meets the conditions that country sets. That is a timing problem. The requirement comes from overseas, the work happens in your plant, and most exporters find the gap between them only after a buyer is already waiting.

What’s included

Identification of which CFIA export certificates the destination requires for your product
Assessment of whether your establishment currently meets the conditions for those certificates
A gap list where it does not, with what has to change and in what order
Preparation and coordination of the certificate application
Guidance on the export documentation set the destination expects alongside the certificate
Where an establishment listing is required, what that involves

Who else you will need

These sit next to this engagement and we do not do them. They are licensed or credentialed work, and we would do them worse than the people who do them all day. We will introduce you, and coordinate across them so nothing falls in a gap.

Signing the export certificate: CFIA. The certificate is a government instrument, issued against conditions your establishment either meets or does not.
Plant-level food safety systems work: A food safety consultant or your certification body, where the gap list calls for changes to HACCP, sanitation or traceability.

Commercial terms

Fee range: Scoped per engagement
Typical timeline: Confirmed at scoping

Questions

Our buyer sent us a certificate name we do not recognise. Is that normal?: Very. Buyers often relay the name their own customs broker uses, which may not map cleanly to a CFIA certificate. Part of this work is translating what the destination is actually asking for into what CFIA actually issues.
Do you issue the certificate?: No. CFIA issues export certificates. We identify which one applies, prepare your establishment and the application, and coordinate it, but the issuing authority is CFIA and the conditions are theirs.
We have never exported before. Where does this start?: With your SFCR licence and your preventive control plan, because the certificate conditions build on them. If the licence scope does not cover what you intend to export, that is the first thing to fix, and it is better found now than after a buyer commits.
Does the certificate travel with the shipment?: The document set that accompanies a consignment varies by destination and by product. We set out what that set is for your route as part of the work, so the shipment is not held for a document nobody mentioned.

Read before you brief us

The reasoning behind this work, written out in full and free to read. You will brief us better for having read it, and you may decide you do not need us for part of it.

Opportunities for Canadian lobster in Southeast Asian hospitality
Vietnam charges 27 per cent on frozen lobster at the general rate and nothing under CPTPP. That single line is worth more than most Canadian seafood exporters spend on an entire market entry, and it is decided by paperwork rather than by the agreement existing.
Five hotel products that can be sourced from Canada
Food service buys differently from retail: to a plate cost, a specification and a season, with no shelf to win. Five Canadian lines fit that channel in Southeast Asia, and the tariff position separates them sharply by market.
Establishment approval: the gate that opens before the sale
Four of the six markets vet the Canadian plant before they will look at the product. What each one asks for, which of them audits on site, and why this belongs at the start of a commercial conversation rather than the end.
What a CFIA export certificate proves, and what it does not
The certificate is the last document in the chain, not the first. What has to be true before the CFIA will issue one, what the certificate actually attests, and the four ways exporters lose a shipment after holding one.

Markets this covers

Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore