WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.792
30December 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-5628)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: CANADA
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Department ofHealth
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification can be
indicated ifdifferent from above: National Enquiry Point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Folic acid
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Proposed Amendment
totheFood andDrug Regulations (1066) (pages 3702-3705)
6. Description ofcontent: Note: Alsonotified under theSPSAgreement.
Thisschedule ofamendment totheFood andDrug Regulations proposes that:
(1)thecurrent voluntary fortification offlour andenriched pasta with folic acidbe
changed toamandatory requirement; and(2)theCanadian levels ofnutrient addition to
flour andenriched pasta beharmonized withthose oftheUnited States.
Folic acid
Recent research hasdemonstrated thatthere isarelationship between an
increased intake oftheBvitamin, folicacid, bywomen forafewweeks before andafter
conception, andareduced riskofneural tubedefects (NTDs) such asspina bifida in
newborn infants. Consequently, on25December 1996, regulations were published in
theCanada Gazette, PartII,which provided fortheoptional addition offolicacidto
flour atamaximum level of0.15milligram per100grams andtopasta atamaximum
levelof0.27milligram per100grams.
Theoptimal level offolic acidfortification forpreventing NTDs isasyet
unknown. TheUnited States haschosen levels thatareconsidered tobesafeforlong
termconsumption byallsegments ofthepopulation andthatwillimprove dietary folic
acidintakes ofwomen whocould become pregnant. TheDepartment ofHealth believes
itisintheinterest ofpublic health toharmonize withtheUnited States (U.S.) levels and
tomake theaddition offolicacidmandatory inbothflour andenriched pasta. Thefolic
acidintakes ofasignificant proportion ofCanadian women tendtobelower than
recommended forgeneral nutritional health aswellasfortheprevention ofneural tube
defects. Thisaction would, therefore, beconsistent withtheDepartment ofHealth ’s
policy onthefortification offood toprevent orcorrect adeficiency ofanutrient in
specific groups ofthepopulation.
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.792
Page2
7. Objective andrationale, including thenature ofurgent problems where applicable:
Protection ofhuman health
8. Relevant documents: Canada Gazette, PartI,29November 1997
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:Notstated
10. Final dateforcomments: 10February 1998
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress, e-mail andtelefax number
ofother body: