Food commodity
laws: CFIA to tighten
licensing and registration
requirements.
The rules for importing and exporting food are set to tighten
under a new federal law.
The Safe Food for Canadians Act combines parts of four
existing food commodity laws and strengthens the role of
the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to regulate and
license food importers and exporters.
Traceability and accountability
The law, which was being debated during the massive beef
recall from the XL Foods plant in Alberta, is designed to create
consistent practices for all food commodities. All companies
dealing with food will be licensed and regulated by the CFIA,
and will be required to have traceability systems to track the
passage of food through their plants.
Although the law passed Nov. 22, 2012 the current rules
and regulations will remain in place until new legislation and
regulations have been drafted. The government is reviewing
all current rules and is promising to consult with federal
stakeholders in the process.
The most notable change under the new law is the
requirement of all food manufacturers to have traceability
systems that will track all food going through their systems.
This traceability would ensure all manufacturers and plants
produce documentation in a standard format which could
speed up the recall of contaminated food.
Under a situation such as XL Foods, the CFIA would have had
the authority to demand documents in a specific format and
timeline during the inspection, which could have resulted in a
speedier recall.
Importers to be registered
For importers, the new law will require that they are registered
or licensed by the CFIA. This will strengthen the agency’s
ability to hold the importers responsible for the safety of the
food they bring into the country. The Safe Food law will also
increase fines and possible jail time for those who do not
comply with the regulations of the law.
Currently, importers of meat, fish, dairy and eggs are
regulated. All other commodities, that so far have not been
regulated including coffee, baked goods and spices, will now
be subject to CFIA registration and licensing.
One license for all food products
The Safe Food law, by consolidating the Fish Inspection Act,
Canada Agricultural Products Act, the Meat Inspection Act
and the food provisions of the Consumer Packaging and
Labelling Act, means that one CFIA licence would cover all
products.
All exported food will now have to be certified by the CFIA.
This will make the export certification more consistent among
various food commodities. It is expected to open new
export markets in the increasing number of countries that are
requiring certification of imported food. The new law also
aligns Canada’s food safety laws with the U.S. Food Safety
Modernization Act.
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