CFIA Rewrote Import Conditions for Most of Chapter 02 — Here's What Changed and Why You Should Care

The Update

CFIA published Chapter 02 revisions on April 22 that modify import conditions for lamb, mutton, goat, poultry, ostrich, and a bunch of game birds most of us don’t see often but a handful of specialty importers move regularly. The affected codes run from 0206.80 through 0208.90 and include the whole of 0207.

This isn’t a tariff change. It’s not going to hit your duty calculations. It’s an AIRS update, which means the conditions CFIA applies at border release just got rewritten. If you import any of these products and your broker or internal customs team hasn’t flagged this yet, you need to pull the current AIRS chapter and compare it to what was live last week.

What AIRS Does and Why This Matters Now

The Automated Import Reference System is CFIA’s lookup table for what permits, certificates, or documentary requirements apply to a given HS code at time of import. When your broker files the CAD and triggers a PGA hold, CBSA routes the file to CFIA if AIRS flags it. CFIA then looks for the right FIRMS code, checks whether the establishment is registered, and verifies the certificate or import permit.

When CFIA rewrites a chapter, they’re usually tightening establishment requirements, adding new certificate fields, or clarifying which products need a permit versus just a certificate of origin. Chapter 02 has been relatively stable for the last two years, so a broad rewrite across lamb, mutton, goat, and poultry suggests either a new bilateral protocol came into force or CFIA decided existing conditions weren’t tight enough to manage ASF or avian influenza risk.

The practical hit: if your AIRS profile in CARM references the old conditions and your exporter’s certificate was issued under the old template, you may get a CFIA hold even if nothing about the product or the supplier changed. CFIA won’t auto-update your profile. You need to do that.

Poultry and Game Birds

The whole of 0207 got touched. That’s all poultry of heading 01.05: chicken, turkey, duck, geese, guinea fowl. If you’re bringing in fresh or frozen poultry from the U.S., this probably won’t slow you down much because USDA and CFIA have a standing MOU and most U.S. establishments are already in CFIA’s approved list. But if you’re importing from Brazil, Thailand, or Ukraine, double-check that the establishment FIRMS code on your health certificate matches what CFIA now expects under the revised chapter.

For the exotics — ostrich, quail, pheasant, partridge, rhea — the update is less about volume and more about making sure niche suppliers don’t slip through. These codes don’t move a lot of tonnage, but when they do it’s usually high-value restaurant or specialty retail programs. A CFIA hold on a small lot of fresh quail can kill a week’s menu. Make sure your broker has the updated AIRS reference and that your supplier knows the new certificate format if one was introduced.

Lamb, Mutton, Goat

Codes 0206.80.5156 through 0206.80.5159 and 0206.90.5163 through 0206.90.5169 cover edible offal. If you’re importing lamb or goat offal — kidneys, liver, tongue, hearts — this is the block that applies. The revision likely means CFIA is now requiring establishment approval for offal that previously cleared on a certificate of origin alone, or they’ve added traceability fields to the health certificate.

Mutton imports into Canada are mostly from Australia and New Zealand under CPTPP. Both countries have robust export inspection regimes and CFIA usually defers to their systems, but the revised conditions may now require the exporter to declare whether the product is from a scrapie-controlled flock or zone. If your supplier hasn’t updated their certificate template, expect a hold.

What You Need to Do This Week

Pull the updated Chapter 02 from CFIA’s AIRS portal. Compare the new import conditions to what’s in your CARM account under your product profiles. If you’ve got standing CAD templates for any of these codes, update them now. If your broker is filing on your behalf, send them the CSCB notice and ask them to confirm they’ve reviewed the chapter changes.

If you’ve got shipments in transit right now under any of these codes, call your broker and make sure the certificate your supplier issued matches the new AIRS requirements. If it doesn’t, you may need the exporter to reissue it before the shipment arrives. CFIA won’t waive a documentary deficiency just because the shipment was booked before the chapter update went live.

For ongoing programs, update your supplier manual or your purchase order template to reference the new CFIA requirements. If you’re working with a freight forwarder who also handles documentation upstream — say, consolidating product from multiple exporters in a single origin country — make sure they know the certificate format changed. A lot of CFIA holds we see now come from exporters who are still using last year’s template because nobody told them it changed.

Classification Risk

Chapter 02 is messy. The distinction between fresh, chilled, and frozen matters for tariff preference under CUSMA and CPTPP, and the eight-digit national lines get granular fast. If you’ve been classifying lamb offal as 0206.80.9990 (other) because you didn’t have the species breakdown from your supplier, the revised AIRS conditions may now force you to get specific. CFIA won’t release the shipment without the right species declaration, and if you reclassify after the fact, you’re looking at a CAD amendment and possibly a correction penalty if CBSA decides the original CAD was negligent.

If you’re not confident in your classification or you’re seeing new product SKUs under Chapter 02, run them through a proper HS classification review before the first shipment. The cost of getting it wrong isn’t just the CFIA hold — it’s the downstream CARM penalty math if CBSA decides you should have known better.

If your import programs touch any of these codes and you want a second set of eyes on your AIRS profiles or your supplier certificates, get in touch. We do a lot of meat and poultry, and we’ve already walked through the Chapter 02 changes with CFIA.

Source: CSCB