Canada again puts import requirements on United States romaine lettuce

For the second year in a row, Canada has put import requirements on US romaine lettuce because of several E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks linked to that product. These requirements will be in effect from September 28 to December 22, 2022. These restrictions were also in place in 2021. US authorities have identified a geographical area as a recurring source of these outbreaks: the California Salinas Valley counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey. The temporary Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) license conditions for the import of romaine from these regions has two requirements. The import requirements on US romaine lettuce are: importers must declare that the product does not originate from those counties, or they must submit an attestation form and Certificate of Analysis for each shipment to “demonstrate that the romaine lettuce does not contain detectable levels of E. coli O157:H7.” The importer must provide Proof of Origin indicating the state and county where the ...