Dutch Elm Disease Regulation Expands: What Changed for BC and Saskatchewan Imports

CFIA updated directive D-97-07 this week, expanding Dutch elm disease regulation to cover British Columbia partially and Saskatchewan fully. If you clear elm or zelkova material at the border or move it between provinces, the permit and phytosanitary certificate requirements just shifted.

What Changed

British Columbia is now partially regulated. Appendix 2 of D-97-07 was updated with a map showing the new regulated area within the province. Saskatchewan moved from partially to fully regulated, meaning the entire province is now subject to DED movement controls.

For importers, this matters at two stages: clearance and post-clearance domestic movement.

CFIA Clearance Requirements

Elm material (Ulmus spp. and Zelkova spp.) from the United States requires a phytosanitary certificate and a CFIA import permit before release. The permit application goes through CFIA’s Automated Import Reference System (AIRS). We file the permit number on the CAD at release.

The practical sequence: importer applies for the permit, CFIA reviews the phytosanitary certificate from USDA APHIS, permit is issued (or not), we file the CAD with the permit reference, CBSA releases to CFIA, CFIA inspection happens (physical or documentary), then final release.

This is standard OGD clearance. The delay risk sits in the permit approval window and the CFIA inspection queue, not CBSA processing. If your shipment arrives at the port before the permit is in hand, it sits. We cannot file for release without a valid permit number.

Why Provincial Regulation Status Matters

The provincial regulation status controls domestic movement after clearance, not just import. If you clear a shipment of elm logs at the Port of Vancouver and want to move it to a sawmill in the BC interior, you need to check whether the destination is inside or outside the regulated area shown in Appendix 2.

Movement from a non-regulated area into a regulated area requires a movement certificate from CFIA. Movement within a regulated area or from regulated to non-regulated typically does not, but the directive has specific carve-outs depending on the material type and processing status.

Saskatchewan being fully regulated simplifies this slightly. Any movement into Saskatchewan from outside the province is movement into a regulated area and requires the certificate. Movement within Saskatchewan is regulated-to-regulated, so the requirements are lighter.

This is not an abstract compliance note. If your logistics partner books a truck to move the material before confirming the movement certificate requirements, you get a load sitting on a dock waiting for CFIA paperwork. The driver does not care about D-97-07. The delivery window passes, and you pay detention.

What Triggers These Requirements

The directive applies to elm and zelkova material in several forms: logs, lumber, firewood, nursery stock, and other wood products. Finished goods like furniture or fully processed wood products are typically exempt, but the line between “processed” and “raw material” is defined in the directive, not by common sense.

We see confusion most often with firewood and nursery stock. Firewood bundles sold retail still fall under the directive if they contain elm. Nursery stock includes live plants, cuttings, and grafting material. Both require the phytosanitary certificate and permit at import, and both are subject to movement restrictions post-clearance.

If you are an importer bringing in mixed loads of hardwood lumber or nursery stock, the presence of any elm or zelkova triggers the requirement for the entire portion of the load containing that material. CFIA does not care that elm is 5% of the shipment. That 5% needs the permit.

Filing and Documentation

When we file the CAD, the CFIA permit number goes in the OGD permit field. The phytosanitary certificate from the US exporting state must be provided to CFIA at the time of inspection. The certificate must reference the specific lots or shipment being cleared and must be issued within the validity window specified in D-97-07.

If CFIA flags the shipment for physical inspection, the entire load is held until the inspector clears it. We cannot partial-release the non-elm portion of a mixed shipment while CFIA inspects the elm portion. The importer of record is responsible for making the shipment available for inspection at the location CFIA designates, which is usually the port of entry or a CFIA-approved inspection facility.

Inspection refusals happen. If the material shows signs of disease, does not match the phytosanitary certificate description, or the certificate itself has discrepancies, CFIA can refuse entry. The importer’s options at that point are re-export, destruction, or treatment if treatment is an option under the directive. All three cost money and time.

Why This Expands Now

Dutch elm disease is not new. The pathogen has been in Canada since the 1940s. The expansion of regulated areas in BC and Saskatchewan reflects ongoing spread of the disease and CFIA’s effort to slow it through movement controls.

The regulatory map in Appendix 2 is not static. CFIA updates it as new detections occur or as eradication efforts succeed. Importers and brokers need to check the current version of D-97-07 at the time of filing, not rely on a printout from six months ago.

The directive itself is available on CFIA’s website, along with the updated maps and permit application instructions.

Practical Takeaways

If you import elm or zelkova material from the US:

• Confirm the CFIA permit is in hand before the shipment leaves the US. Do not assume the supplier handled it.
• Provide the phytosanitary certificate to your broker before the shipment arrives at the port. We cannot file without it.
• Check the destination province and regulated area status before booking domestic transport post-clearance. Movement certificates are not instant.

If you store or transload elm material at a Canadian warehouse, confirm with the facility that they are aware of CFIA movement restrictions. A warehouse in Montreal receiving elm lumber from the US for distribution to multiple provinces needs to track which pallets are moving into regulated areas and ensure movement certificates are in place. FENGYE LOGISTICS handles this type of CFIA-controlled inventory regularly for sufferance warehouses, but not every facility has that process locked down.

If you are filing CADs for mixed hardwood shipments and you are not sure whether elm is present, ask. The supplier should know. If they do not, the phytosanitary certificate from APHIS will list the species. We cannot guess and file without the permit when elm is present.

Most CFIA OGD clearances are straightforward if the paperwork is correct and the permit is in hand at filing. The delays and refusals we see are almost always paperwork issues: missing permit, expired certificate, or mismatch between what the certificate says and what the shipment actually contains.

The expanded regulation in BC and Saskatchewan does not change the mechanics of clearance. It changes the domestic movement calculation after release. That is a logistics planning question, not a border filing question, but it affects your door-to-door timeline just the same.

If your supply chain touches elm or zelkova and you are not certain how the new regulated areas affect your movement plan, that is exactly the kind of file we walk through daily. Get in touch.

Source: CSCB