Government of Canada
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Plant Biosafety


The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for regulating the environmental release of plants with novel traits (PNTs).

A PNT is a plant that contains a trait which is both new to the Canadian environment and has the potential to affect the specific use and safety of the plant with respect to the environment and human health. These traits can be introduced using biotechnology, mutagenesis, or conventional breeding techniques.

CFIA responsibilities include:

  • approval of unconfined release of PNTs
  • approval and inspection of confined research field trials of PNTs
  • assessment of import applications for PNTs
  • development of domestic regulatory policies related to the environmental release of PNTs
  • development of internationally aligned regulatory policies through participation in various international forums

The key acts and regulations we enforce are:

Information we provide for the general public includes:

Information we provide to the plant industry and scientific community includes:

Additional government and industry information can be found at: