On March 13, 2026, the Minister of Finance and National Revenue announced a safeguard inquiry into the imports of frozen and canned vegetables. 

This is a courtesy notice to inform you that the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) initiated a safeguard inquiry GC-2025-001 on March 16, 2026. This inquiry will determine whether increased global imports are causing or threatening to cause serious injury to Canadian growers and processors, potentially leading to new import surtaxes or quotas.

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal News Release can be found here.

Further details about the CITT safeguard inquiry process can be found here, including a flowchart in Appendix 1. 

Safeguard Inquiry Details and Timeline:

• Inquiry Period: The Tribunal has 180 days to determine if increased imports are causing injury to Canadian vegetable farmers and to recommend appropriate remedies such as surtaxes or import quotas.  
• Scope of Review: The inquiry will also consider the impact of potential measures on food affordability and security for Canadian households.
• Potential Remedies: If the Tribunal finds serious injury, the government may apply safeguard measures under the Customs Tariff (surtaxes) or the Export and Import Permits Act (quotas).

Interested Parties, including domestic producers, importers, and foreign producers, can participate in this inquiry by filing their notice of participation and completing and submitting the CITT questionnaires. 

Inquiry Milestones:

• March 16, 2026: Issuance of the Tribunal's decision and posting of questionnaires.
• April 10, 2026: Deadline for replies to Tribunal questionnaires.
• June 15, 2026: Commencement of public hearings.
• September 9, 2026: Submission of the Tribunal's final report to the Government.

Note: The complete inquiry review schedule is found here.

Potentially affected Commodities and HS Codes: 

Frozen and canned corn, peas, green beans, wax beans, mixes of peas and carrots, mixed vegetables, white, black, red or pinto beans and chickpeas, whether packaged for retail, foodservice, industrial or other use, whether cleaned, individually quick frozen or block frozen, prepared, blanched, cooked or preserved, whether in metal cans, whether whole, cut, sliced, diced or otherwise mechanically prepared, whether seasoned with salt or containing added sugars or preservatives or other common canning, freezing or other packaging, whether from organic or conventional vegetables or whether sold in consumer, foodservice or industrial or bulk formats.

‍

0710.21.00.00

0710.22.00.10

0710.22.00.90

0710.40.00.00

0710.80.00.20

0710.80.00.90

0710.90.00.00

2005.40.00.00

2005.51.90.19

2005.51.90.90

2005.59.00.00

2005.80.00.00

2005.99.11.00

2005.99.19.00

2005.99.20.19

2005.99.20.99

2005.99.90.15

2005.99.90.18

2005.99.90.19

2005.99.90.98

2005.99.90.99

‍

Exclusions include: 

• Fresh or dried vegetables
• Ready-to-eat meals or entrees where vegetables are combined with grains, meats, pastas, or sauces such that vegetables are not the primary component. 
• Vegetable goods that are substantially altered into purees, powders, juices, spreads, dips, or pastes.

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