Organic Certification of Slaughter Activities - Questions and Answers

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in partnership with the Organic Federation of Canada, has developed the Organic Standards Interpretation Committee (SIC). The objective of the Committee is to provide, to the Canada Organic Office, interpretive guidance on issues related to the National Standards for Organic Agriculture (CAN/CGSB 32.310 and CAN/CGSB 32.311).

These are the final answers to questions raised by organic stakeholders, regarding the National Standards for Organic Agriculture. Any further clarifications related to these questions and answers can be sent to the Canada Organic Office.

Q1 Do slaughterhouses require organic certification?

The Organic Products Regulations, 2009, do not require that a slaughter house be certified. However the slaughtering must be conducted in accordance with CAN/CGSB32.310 (Canadian Organic Standard).

Q2 What documentation are required to ensure Organic Integrity?

The abattoir must have a record keeping system that demonstrates that the organic integrity of the meat is maintained. These records would be shared with the operator/farmer's Certification Body in order to verify for compliance with the Standard. The holder of the organic certificate is responsible for maintaining those records.

Scenarios:

If the slaughter, packaging and labelling are included as part of the organic certification of the final product then the Certification Body would verify that the slaughtering and the packaging and labelling are done in accordance with the Canadian Organic Standard. In this case, the abattoir does not require separate certification for the packaging and labelling of the meat.

If the organic certificate only includes the verification of the activities up to the point of the animal being sent to the abattoir then the organic certification does not include the slaughter, packaging and labelling. In this case, if the abattoir further packaged or labelled the product then activities conducted at the abattoir need to be certified.