Canada Invests in Global Food Safety and Agricultural Health Programs

Canada is committing CAD 500,000 (about $360,000 USD) to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), a global partnership that helps developing countries strengthen food safety and plant and animal health systems and meet international trade standards.

The funding will support projects designed to improve compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements — the food safety and agricultural health measures that govern international trade. The effort aims to help developing countries strengthen regulatory systems, improve inspection and laboratory capabilities and facilitate safer, more predictable global trade.

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the investment will support STDF activities under its 2025-2030 strategy, including projects in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

"We thank Canada for its continued support for the STDF and its commitment to strengthening food safety and plant and animal health systems worldwide,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. "By helping developing countries meet international standards, STDF projects facilitate safer trade and create new opportunities for producers in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean to participate in regional and global markets. Canada's valued partnership helps sustain these efforts to make trade work better for people - safer and more inclusive.”

"The government of Canada will continue to support global efforts to help countries meet international food safety, animal and plant health standards to improve predictability and strengthen rules-based international trade for Canadian importers and exporters,” said Canada Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald. “This investment will help expand innovative projects, leading to better food security, reduced poverty and more sustainable economic growth."

Canada has contributed approximately $10 million to STDF since 2005 and more than $19 million to WTO trust funds over the last 22 years.

Canada also contributes to STDF knowledge initiatives. Experts from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) shared their experiences on innovative operational, laboratory and regulatory practices during an STDF regional workshop on the use of digitalization and artificial intelligence to facilitate safe trade, co-organized with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture in Costa Rica in November 2025. Among the SPS innovations highlighted at this event was the IPPC ePhyto Solution, piloted through an STDF project, which is now being used by 100 countries to exchange phytosanitary certificates electronically.

The STDF was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), which hosts and manages the partnership.

Since its creation, the STDF has funded more than 275 projects and project preparation grants benefiting developing economies.