Fertilizers Regulations (C.R.C., c. 666)

The Fertilizers Regulations (C.R.C., c. 666) are made under Canada's Fertilizers Act and administered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Canada's federal regulatory system applies to fertilizers and supplements that are sold or imported into interprovincial or international trade; products sold only within a province fall under provincial law. The consolidations published on the Justice Laws website are current and the version in force reflects the amendments made by SOR/2020-232 on 26 October 2020.

Registration is the structural centre of the regime. An application for registration must include the text that will appear on the label in the marketplace together with information sufficient to determine whether the product is a fertilizer or a supplement, its composition and its safety. Applicants who are not resident in Canada must appoint an agent or mandatary resident in Canada to receive notices. A fertilizer-pesticide must also demonstrate compliance with the Pest Control Products Act, and an application must be refused where there are reasonable grounds to believe the product does not conform to health-of-animals requirements for rendering products, animal by-products, animal food, animal products or manure.

The Regulations distinguish fertilizers that are exempt from registration. Much of the current framework operates through the List of Materials — the document entitled Primary Fertilizer and Supplement Materials published by the Agency — and products composed solely of listed materials may be sold without registration under defined conditions. This is what makes the List of Materials a commercially significant document rather than a technical annex.

Guaranteed analysis is the second pillar. Section 15 sets out the guaranteed analysis that applications and labels must contain, and section 21 requires the name of a fertilizer containing any major plant nutrient — nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium — to include the grade designation as a hyphenated numerical series. That sequence represents guarantees expressed in per cent for total nitrogen, available phosphoric acid and soluble potash, in that order. A grade is therefore a legally binding statement about minimum content, not a marketing description.

Labelling carries a requirement that has no equivalent in most jurisdictions: section 19 requires all information that the Regulations require on a label to be printed conspicuously, legibly and indelibly in both English and French, with both versions equally prominent and in close proximity to each other. Labels must also be free of incorrect or misleading information or symbols regarding the identity, safety, composition or directions for use of the product. Where a prepackaged product manufactured outside Canada carries a label showing the Canadian reseller, the words 'imported by' or 'imported for' must precede that identification unless the geographic origin is already stated.

For exporters the practical sequence is: confirm that every component of the product appears on the List of Materials or obtain registration; prepare a bilingual label meeting the layout and content rules; and support the declared grade with a guaranteed analysis that will survive testing. The recording obligation in section 18(1) for mixtures — requiring the packager or importer to keep, for at least five years, the registration numbers and safety compliance information for each registered component — is the provision most often overlooked by suppliers assembling blends from registered inputs.