Finland Joins ASF Secondary Control Zone: What Feed Importers Need to File Now

Finland Added, Plant-Based Feed Ingredients Now Require Permits

CFIA updated its African swine fever import controls this week. Two operational changes for Canadian importers of livestock feed:

1. Finland is now a secondary control zone under the ASF Declaration Order. Any feed or feed ingredient shipment originating from or transiting through Finland now triggers the secondary control zone permit and condition requirements.

2. Plant-based feed ingredients imported for use in livestock feed now require an import permit, even if the ingredient itself contains no animal protein. The previous carve-out for plant-only ingredients is gone.

The third change is administrative: Port of Sorel-Tracy is added to Appendix 1 of the approved entry points. If you were already bringing feed shipments through Sorel-Tracy under a case-by-case CFIA authorization, you now have standing approval. If you weren’t, you now can.

What Secondary Control Zone Actually Means at the Border

Secondary control zones sit one tier below primary ASF outbreak countries. Finland doesn’t have an active ASF outbreak in domestic swine as of this update, but it’s in the risk buffer because of proximity to affected regions in Europe. CFIA’s position: treat feed from Finland the same way you’d treat feed from any other secondary zone.

That means your broker needs a valid CFIA import permit number on the CAD before CBSA will release the shipment. The permit must match the commodity description, HS code, country of origin, and consignee on the commercial invoice. If the permit says “soybean meal” and the invoice says “mixed grain protein blend,” you’re going to get a release hold until CFIA clarifies.

CFIA validates permits in AIRS (Automated Import Reference System), which CBSA queries during primary review. No valid permit reference in AIRS = automatic referral to CFIA for manual review. That’s a minimum two-business-day delay, often longer if the referral lands on a Friday afternoon or the day before a stat holiday.

Plant-Based Feed Ingredients: The Carve-Out Is Gone

The bigger operational shift is the plant-based feed ingredient change. Until this update, importers could bring in soybean meal, canola meal, distillers grains, and other plant-origin protein sources for livestock feed without an ASF-specific import permit, as long as the product contained no animal derivatives.

That’s over. CFIA now requires an import permit for plant-based feed ingredients if the end use is livestock feed, regardless of whether the ingredient itself poses any direct ASF transmission risk. The rationale is supply-chain contamination risk: a plant-based ingredient manufactured in a facility that also handles animal-origin products, or transported in equipment previously used for restricted goods, can carry trace contamination.

From a customs compliance perspective, this means your supplier’s certificate of origin and manufacturing declaration now matter more than they used to. CFIA will ask for facility registration details, sanitation protocols, and segregation documentation when you apply for the permit. If your supplier can’t provide that level of traceability, CFIA won’t issue the permit, and CBSA won’t release the goods.

Port of Sorel-Tracy: Why This Entry Point Matters

Sorel-Tracy is a smaller St. Lawrence River port about 75 km northeast of Montreal, primarily handling bulk and break-bulk cargo. Adding it to the approved entry point list for ASF-controlled goods is a capacity play. Port of Montreal handles the majority of containerized feed ingredient imports into Quebec, but Sorel-Tracy’s bulk handling infrastructure makes it a better fit for large-volume grain and oilseed shipments arriving on lakers or ocean-going bulk carriers.

If you’re importing feed ingredients in bulk and your freight forwarder has been routing everything through Montreal to avoid CFIA entry-point restrictions, you now have a second option. Sorel-Tracy’s CBSA office is smaller and has fewer on-site CFIA inspectors, so expect longer lead times for physical inspection referrals. But for release-on-documents shipments where the permit and paperwork are clean, Sorel-Tracy can move cargo faster than Montreal during peak container season.

Our sister operation FENGYE LOGISTICS runs a sufferance warehouse near the Port of Montreal with direct CFIA-bonded storage. If your Sorel-Tracy shipment gets referred for exam or needs to sit in bond while you sort out a permit discrepancy, we can dray it down and hold it under CBSA control without demurrage piling up at the port.

How to File Clean: Permit Applications and CAD Coding

If you’re importing feed or feed ingredients from Finland or any other secondary control zone, here’s what needs to line up:

Before you ship: apply for the CFIA import permit through the My CFIA portal. You’ll need the supplier’s facility registration number, a detailed commodity description, HS classification, and intended end use. CFIA permit processing time runs 5 to 10 business days for standard plant-based feed ingredients, longer if the product is novel or the facility is new to the CFIA registry.

At time of import: your customs broker files the CAD with the CFIA permit reference number in the appropriate OGD field. CBSA validates the permit in AIRS during primary release review. If the permit is valid and matches the shipment details, release is automatic under PARS or RMD. If there’s a mismatch or the permit isn’t in AIRS yet, the shipment gets referred.

HS classification: most plant-based feed ingredients land in Chapter 23 (residues and waste from the food industries; prepared animal feed). Soybean meal is usually 2304.00, canola meal is 2306.41, distillers grains are 2303.30. If you’re importing a blended product or a novel protein source, get an advance ruling from CBSA before you file the first CAD. CFIA permit descriptions are literal: if your ruling says 2304.00 and you file 2309.90, the permit won’t validate.

Release prior to payment: ASF-controlled goods are still eligible for RPP bond release if your bond is sized correctly and you have no outstanding compliance flags. The CFIA permit requirement doesn’t change the RPP mechanics, but it does add another point of failure. If CBSA can’t validate the permit, they won’t release under bond until CFIA clears it manually.

Why CFIA Tightened This Now

ASF is spreading west across Europe and has been detected in wild boar populations in Germany, Poland, and now closer to the Nordic region. Canada’s domestic pork industry is ASF-free, and CFIA’s job is to keep it that way. The secondary control zone list expands every time CFIA’s risk assessment identifies a new geographic proximity threat.

Finland’s addition reflects updated surveillance data showing ASF presence in wild boar near the Russian border. Even though Finland’s domestic swine herds are clean, CFIA treats the entire country as elevated-risk for feed ingredients because of cross-border wildlife movement and the possibility of contaminated transport equipment.

The plant-based feed ingredient tightening is a response to compliance gaps CFIA found during facility audits in 2025. Several non-compliant shipments traced back to suppliers who were manufacturing plant-based feed in shared equipment with animal-origin products, or who couldn’t demonstrate proper sanitation between production runs. Rather than chase case-by-case enforcement, CFIA added a permit gate for all plant-based livestock feed ingredients.

If you’re importing feed ingredients regularly and this is the first you’re hearing about secondary control zones or plant-based permit requirements, your CFIA compliance program has a gap. We run these audits all day. Most importers don’t find out their supplier’s facility registration is expired until CBSA refers the shipment and CFIA rejects the permit at the border.

That’s a conversation worth having before your next container arrives. Get in touch.

Source: CSCB