Canada To Strengthen Regulatory Framework For Food Inspection

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica CMC – Caribbean exporters who market their products in Canada will probably have to improve their agricultural health and food safety (AHFS) controls if Canada approves a proposal aimed at modernising its regulations, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), has said.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said the objective of the changes is to prevent health risks and respond better to any food safety incidents that occur.

The new legislation consolidates Canada’s current food inspection regulations under a single act and establishes general safety requirements for imports and exports and food being traded inter-provincially.

It also requires businesses to have preventive control plans in place and to keep sanitary records for each stage of the production chain.

CFIA’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, Linda Webster, said the Safe Food for Canadians Act is designed to ensure the safety and quality of products, safeguard consumer health and establish more effective inspection systems consistent with international parameters.

Webster noted that Canada imported 70 percent of the processed food and fresh fruits and vegetables it consumed, so the changes in its regulations were needed to reduce health risks.

IICA agricultural health and food safety (AHFS) specialist Ana Marisa Cordero, has endorsed Webster’s statements, noting that the changes in Canada’s legislation were due to the increase in trade in foodstuffs, which was obliging governments to strengthen their safety control mechanisms to protect consumer health.

“The growing world food market increases the possibility of more sanitary incidents, so it is essential to have the capacity to detect risks and react in time,” Cordero remarked.

She said the governments of Canada and other countries were modernising their legislative frameworks governing AHFS and putting better oversight systems in place.

IICA said in the coming weeks, it will be organising virtual meetings to provide more details and explore the implications of the regulations proposed by Canada.