Section / 00 · Canada → ASEAN
Market access for Canadian food in Southeast Asia
Find out whether your product can sell in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia or Singapore, what it costs to get it there, and which market is worth trying first. Then we handle the paperwork, find you a buyer, and get your first shipment away.
30 minutes, straight to the point.
- ASEAN markets, verified
- 6ASEAN markets, verified
- Products classified
- 39Products classified
- Services
- 11Services
Section / 01 · Two doors
Which side of the trade are you on?
Canadian producers
I want to sell into ASEAN
Find out whether your product can enter a given market, what registration applies, who has to hold it, and what entry actually costs, before you commit to a distributor.
For Canadian exportersASEAN importers
I want to source from Canada
Tell us the product, the specification and the destination port. We identify Canadian producers who can actually supply it and hold the certification your authority requires.
For ASEAN buyersSection / 02 · How it works
Three steps, in this order
Most entries fail because the order was wrong: a distributor appointed before anyone checked who may hold the registration, or artwork printed before the regulator had seen it. This is the order that works, and the third step is the one that is not a project.
01
Decide
Which market, and is it worth entering at all?
- Your tariff line priced per market, with the source and the date
- The registration route and who is allowed to hold it
- An honest no, in week three rather than year two
02
Build
Everything that has to be true before the first container.
- Product registration filed, in the right name
- Labels and certification checked before the print run
- A distributor qualified on licence, category and channel
03
Operate
First orders, then a channel somebody is accountable for.
- Export documentation and the first consignment through customs
- Renewals and rule changes caught before they bite
- A named person in-market your distributor answers to
Step one is often grant funded. Canadian agri-food producers can claim up to 70 percent of it under AgriMarketing, which changes what the first engagement costs you. How the funding works
Section / 03 · Markets
Where Canadian food can go, and on what terms
- VietnamIn force: CPTPP. Global Affairs Canada lists the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership as in force between Canada and Vietnam. There is no separate bilateral Canada–Vietnam free trade agreement; Vietnam is also one of the ten ASEAN member states covered by the Canada–ASEAN FTA, which remains in negotiation and is not yet a source of preferential treatment.6-step registration pathway
- ThailandNot in force: in negotiation. Global Affairs Canada records the Canada–Thailand Free Trade Agreement as “In negotiations”: a Notice of Intent to enter into negotiations was tabled on 24 November 2025, and public consultations ran from 13 December 2025 to 27 January 2026. Thailand is not a CPTPP party. A Canada–Thailand Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement has been in force since 24 September 1998, but it governs investment, not tariff treatment.6-step registration pathway
- PhilippinesNot in force: in negotiation. Global Affairs Canada records the Canada–Philippines Free Trade Agreement as “In negotiations”: exploratory discussions were announced in a joint ministerial statement on 5 December 2024, and a Notice of Intent to enter into negotiations was tabled on 5 November 2025. The Philippines is not a CPTPP party. A Canada–Philippines Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement has been in force since 13 November 1996, but it governs investment, not tariff treatment.6-step registration pathway
- IndonesiaSigned, not yet in force. Global Affairs Canada gives the current status of the Canada–Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement as “Signed” as of 24 September 2025, and records it as not in force. Until it enters into force it confers no preferential treatment, and Indonesia is not a CPTPP party, so plan a landed cost on the most-favoured-nation position, not on CEPA.6-step registration pathway
- MalaysiaIn force: CPTPP. Global Affairs Canada lists the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership as in force between Canada and Malaysia. There is no separate bilateral Canada–Malaysia free trade agreement; the Canada–ASEAN FTA, which would also cover Malaysia, is still in negotiation.6-step registration pathway
- SingaporeIn force: CPTPP. Global Affairs Canada lists the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership as in force between Canada and Singapore. A separate bilateral Canada–Singapore Free Trade Agreement appears on the Global Affairs Canada agreements register with the status “Inactive” and is not in force, so CPTPP is the operative instrument on this route.6-step registration pathway
Section / 04 · Categories
What Canada actually ships
5 pillars, 15 categories and 179 product pages, each carrying its own classification and duty position per market.
Agriculture & Ingredients
Pulses · Grains · Oats · Canola · Dairy ingredients
Packaged Food & Beverage
Snacks · Frozen foods · Beverages · Premium grocery
Written up in depth
pulses-and-legumes
Pulses & Legumes
Pulses are the most established Canadian food export into Southeast Asia, and the trade is mature enough that buyers rarely need convincing about the origin. What st…
Explore category →
grains-and-cereals
Grains & Cereals
Canadian grain trades on a grading system rather than on a brand, and that is the thing worth understanding before you buy. Classes are defined by end use and functi…
Explore category →
oilseeds-and-vegetable-oils
Oilseeds & Vegetable Oils
Canola is the category that most rewards getting the form right. Seed, crude oil, refined oil and meal are four different products commercially, four different produ…
Explore category →Section / 05 · How we work
Numbers you can put in a budget
Most export research is somebody’s summary of somebody else’s summary. A wrong duty rate turns into a wrong price, and you find out at the border.
You can see where every number came from
Every duty rate, product code and certificate on this site links to the government page it came from, with the date we last checked it. Click through and check it yourself.
We tell you when we do not know
If we have not confirmed something it says so, in plain words. It never shows up as a guess, and it never shows up as zero. A gap you can see beats a number you cannot trust.
Nothing sits here quietly going out of date
We re-check the market pages every three months and the product pages every six. Anything past its date is treated as unconfirmed until somebody looks again.
We would rather be missing than wrong
A page we have not finished checking stays out of search results. You will not land on something here that looks complete and is not.
Section / 06 · Library
Market Access Library
Regulatory analysis for the six markets, each article citing its primary sources and carrying the date it was last reviewed. Articles publish as their sources are verified, and not before.
Twelve Canadian products we believe could travel well
A shortlist, with the tariff position under each one. Some are obvious and priced accordingly. The interesting ones are where a high general rate meets a preference, because that is where an agreement does commercial work rather than paperwork.
6 sourcesOpportunities for Canadian lobster in Southeast Asian hospitality
Vietnam charges 27 per cent on frozen lobster at the general rate and nothing under CPTPP. That single line is worth more than most Canadian seafood exporters spend on an entire market entry, and it is decided by paperwork rather than by the agreement existing.
6 sourcesFive hotel products that can be sourced from Canada
Food service buys differently from retail: to a plate cost, a specification and a season, with no shelf to win. Five Canadian lines fit that channel in Southeast Asia, and the tariff position separates them sharply by market.
6 sourcesSection / 07 · Start here
Talk to us before you spend anything
Bring the product and roughly what you sell it for. We will tell you on the call whether anything obvious is in the way, and what the first real step would cost. If Southeast Asia is not for you, that is a fine answer and you will get it early.
30 minutes, straight to the point.