AgriAssurance: Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Component

Overview of the AgriAssurance: Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Component program:

The program will: - contribute to the overarching objectives of Resiliency and Public Trust Strategic Initiatives of Sustainable CAP by enabling the development and adoption of industry-led sector-specific assurance systems to manage risks, enhance resiliency, and address market considerations and challenges to public trust at the national level - help small and medium-sized enterprises export products by supporting the adoption of assurance systems and tools to make verifiable claims in order to meet market requirements The program aims to: - increase and diversify exports to markets where Canada has Free Trade Agreements in place - support industry to develop, verify, and integrate assurance systems to address market and regulatory requirements (for example, food safety, plant and animal health surveillance, animal welfare, environmental sustainability, traceability, market attributes and quality standards) - enable industry to make credible, meaningful and verifiable claims about the health, safety, and quality of Canadian agriculture products

Benefits of the AgriAssurance: Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Component program:

• The Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) Component will prioritize projects that:
• Help Canadian agricultural and agri-food sector (including fish and seafood) SMEs adopt the assurance systems and supporting tools, for the first time, required to meet a specific export opportunity or domestic market opportunity for Indigenous Peoples (for example, with a defined grocery retailer)
• The SME component will support activities required to:
• Adopt assurance systems and supporting tools to address international market requirements to expand export opportunities, or domestic market opportunity for Indigenous Peoples, for Canadian agriculture and agri-food, including fish and seafood, products.
• Eligible activities for the SME component include:
• Contracting professional services to obtain the certification for agricultural and agri-food products required to access a specific export opportunity or domestic markets
• The salary of individuals dedicated to working on the development of documents and/or training for such certification
• Travelling to enable the certification
• Lab testing costs required to obtain the certification or recognition

Eligibility criteria of the AgriAssurance: Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Component program:

• You must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible.
• You are a for-profit organization (an organization that exists to make a profit) For-profit organizations may include:
• Partnership
• Corporation
• Co-operative (for-profit)
• Commune (for-profit)
• Indigenous (First Nation, Metis, Inuit): A First Nation, Metis or Inuit individual or a First Nation, Metis or Inuit organization. They may include :
• First Nations, Inuit, or Metis for-profit organization
• You operate in the agriculture, agri-food, and agri-products industry including the fish and seafood industry
• You are directly involved in growing, harvesting, processing, or otherwise transforming or consolidating your products
• Your project is aimed at meeting actual market-specific certification requirements (support under this component is only provided for initial certifications, not subsequent renewals)
• You have up to 500 full-time equivalent employees
• Your annual revenues don't exceed $100 million
• You are a legal entity capable of entering into legally binding agreements