Safe Food For Canadian Action Plan – Food Safety Regulatory Modernization

Purpose

• To provide an overview of elements of a new regulatory framework for federal food inspection along with other elements of the Agency’s modernization efforts

• To answer any questions that might assist participants to further engage with others over the course of the consultation period

• To gather initial feedback and reactions

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3CFIA’s Transformation Agenda

• The CFIA is pursuing a comprehensive transformation agenda that is designed to foster improvements and meet the growing challenges posed by the complex and evolving operating environment

• The recently announced Safe Food for Canadians Action Plan is the cornerstone to this transformation agenda

• Building on the new inspection model, the Government passed the Safe Food for Canadians Act and is developing regulations to bring the Act into force

• In addition, the Agency is engaging on proposed importer licencing for the imported food sector, labelling modernization and on a compliance promotion strategy

• This round of consultation will be open until November 30, 2013

4Modern Legislation Passed by Parliament…

• Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA) received Royal Assent in 2012; enables modern federal food safety inspection system

• Act will replace three CFIA inspection statutes – Meat Inspection Act, Fish Inspection Act, and Canada Agricultural Products Act – and food provisions of Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act

• Food and Drugs Act (FDA) continues to apply to all food sold in Canada , as do other CFIA statutes related to plant and animal health.

• Discussion document: “A New Regulatory Framework for Food Inspection” sets out proposed elements of broad framework

• Individual presentations and discussion documents for the other CFIA initiatives are available on the CFIA web site

New Inspection Model Developed…

…moving now to implement regulations, risk model, new inspection approaches, and systems

performance…

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Innovative Features of New Model

• Those who import, export or prepare food for inter-provincial trade will require a licence and preventive controls

• Inspection oversight will be risk based - better application of intelligence to determine risk

• Inspection approach will be consistent across food• Single strategy for compliance and enforcement to

provide consistent and appropriate response across food

• Systematic assessment of performance embedded in approach to ensure continuous improvement

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7CFIA Food Regulations – Today

• Thirteen federal food inspection regulations will be replaced: – Maple Products Regulations

– Licensing and Arbitration Regulations

– Organic Products Regulations

– Livestock & Poultry Carcass Grading Regulations

– Meat Inspection Regulations

– Fish Inspection Regulations

– Dairy Products Regulations

– Egg Regulations

– Processed Egg Regulations

– Processed Products Regulations

– Fresh Fruit & Vegetable

Regulations

– Honey Regulations– food related provisions of

Consumer Packaging and Labelling Regulations

8Proposed Approach for Tomorrow

• Single set of food inspection regulations that enable a risk-based approach to food and

put the emphasis on outcomes

• Regulations would include:

– Horizontal provisions applying to all food imported and prepared for trade inter-

provincially (e.g licensing, preventive controls, traceability, record-keeping)

– Commodity–specific food safety and consumer protection requirements (e.g. slaughter

provisions, standards of identity, grades, container sizes, inspection marks, labelling)

– Complementary regulations regarding disclosure of information and administrative

monetary penalties

• New regulations for most part would not apply to food traded solely within a province or

territory

9Horizontal Requirements: Licensing

Licensing requirements• Everyone who imports or prepares food for inter-

provincial trade would be required to have a licence• Regulated parties would be able to apply for multiple

licenses • The license would be valid for two years and a fee

would apply for the licenses.

Suspension and cancellation• Proposed regulations would include ability to suspend

and cancel licenses, as well as criteria for application of these enforcement tools.

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Importer licensing under the Food Safety Action Plan•The proposed Imported Food Sector Product Regulations (IFSPR) mark the first phase of the Modernization initiative, moving towards a new and improved inspection model, and the SFCA

–will be enabled under existing authorities initially (CAPA) and will continue forward with the Safe Food for Canadians Action Plan and through regulations drafted under the SFCA

•The proposed Regulations will require importers of Non-Federally Registered Products to meet certain general and licensing requirements to import these products into Canada

Examples of foods that would require the importer to hold a valid import licence to import into Canada under the proposed regulations.

MeatFish

Dairy ProductsEggs

Fresh Fruit and VegetablesHoney

Maple ProductsProcessed EggProcessed Products

Food Commodity

Grain ProductsBeverages

Confectionary/ChocolateSpices, Seasonings and Dried Herbs

Vegetable Fats and OilsInfant Formula and Meal Replacements

Snack FoodsBottled Water

SaltsSynthetic Colours

Meat RegulationsFish Regulations

Dairy Product RegulationsEgg RegulationsFresh Fruitand Vegetables Regulations

Honey RegulationsMaple Products RegulationsProcessed Egg RegulationsProcessed Products Regulations

Regulation Coverage

Imported Food Sector Product Regulations

Act Coverage

FDA &CPLA

CAPA

Meat Inspection ActFish Inspection Act

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SFCA

Proposed IFSPR Requirements• Notify the CFIA within 24 hours of determining that a food safety hazard exists

• Develop, establish and maintain a written recall plan to help identify and remove

products of concern from the Canadian marketplace quickly and efficiently

• Maintain records associated with the imported products, as well as those related to

the recall plan and the Preventive Control Plan (PCP)

• Complete an application for an IFS licence – electronic application through the CFIA

Licence Management System

• Have, implement and maintain a written PCP and demonstrate that the necessary

measures have been taken to reduce food safety risks

• A valid IFS licence number will be required with each shipment of goods

– no fee per shipment or limit on number of shipments

– licence is valid for 2 years; proposed cost of $259 for 2013/14

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Horizontal Requirements: Preventive Control Plans (PCPs)• A PCP sets out in writing how food safety and other regulatory

requirements (e.g. related to labelling, product composition, allergens) will be achieved.

• PCPs recognized internationally as best way to demonstrate that food safety risks and hazards are controlled because it focuses on prevention and systems-based examination of potential hazards

• The proposed regulations under SFCA would entrench management responsibility by requiring licence holders to have a PCP that demonstrates how they achieve regulatory requirements (safety and other requirements) and describe how management controls their operations, including how they monitor, verify and correct deviations, and respond to unforeseen food safety situations

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Horizontal Requirements: Preventive Control Plan

• Proposal to move from prescriptive commodity-specific rules that cover some food commodities, to system of expected outcomes and regulatory requirements for all food traded across borders

• Approach provides flexibility to introduce new technologies and processes that could enhance safety and/or reduce costs

• Depending on nature of operation, PCPs would include some or all of following elements:– processes and products– equipment design and maintenance– sanitation and pest control – employee hygiene and training– receiving, transportation and storage– physical structure and maintenance of

the establishment – recall and complaints

Examples of expected outcomes :Floors, Walls, Ceilings• Floors, walls, and ceilings shall be

constructed of material that is durable, impervious to moisture, smooth, cleanable, and suitable for the production conditions in the area.

• Floors shall have drainage that prevents standing or pooled water

Water/Ice/Steam • The quality and safety of water, ice and

steam in direct contact with food or food contact surfaces is controlled to prevent contamination.

• Water shall be potable or clean and shall be suitable for the process being undertaken

• Water, ice and steam shall be sampled, tested and analyzed to confirm their safety for the intended purpose.

Horizontal Requirements: Traceability and Record Keeping• Rapid identification of origin and movement of a food commodity is essential for

protecting consumers during a food recall

• Proposed regulations would apply Codex standard of maintaining records on inputs and distribution, “One step forward, one step backwards”, to every stage of food supply chain, from primary producer to retailer

• Regulations would require that operators:– collect and maintain traceability information in an accessible, useable format, in English or in French. – provide records to CFIA on request , un-encrypted and within 24 hours in a format which can be

imported and manipulated by standard commercial software

• Operator who believe that food is not in compliance with food safety requirements would have to :– immediately initiate procedures to withdraw the food from the market– inform the CFIA– inform consumers if it could have reached them and recall if necessary

• Retailers, restaurants and catering companies will not be required to collect information about consumer purchases

• All records would need to be maintained and accessible at an address in Canada for a period of not less than three years

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15Commodity Specific Safety and Trade/Consumer Protection Provisions

• Safety Example : Fresh Fruit and Vegetables - new produce safety outcomes/requirements for fresh fruit and vegetables would apply to farms who ship product directly to market in another province or to another country to be consumed raw

• Commodity-specific requirements will be maintained for grades, standards of identity, container sizes, country of origin and labelling requirements

• Food Labelling Modernization may ultimately re-engineer these areas (e.g. country of origin). In interim, current regulatory process is an opportunity to clean up our regulatory framework by :

‐ Consolidating and grouping provisions of similar purpose

‐ Reviewing whether some groupings would be appropriate for Incorporation by Reference (IBR)

‐ Moving to outcome-based statements where it makes sense

‐ Referencing to the Food and Drug Regulations, where appropriate

Food Labelling Modernization Vision: to design an innovative and modern food labelling system, trusted and respected by Canadians and the international community.

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Roles and Responsibilities

Regulations

Policy and Program Development

Service Delivery

Improve compliance by effectively balancing the roles and responsibilities between consumers, industry, and governmentBetter protect consumers and support industry innovation by strengthening the regulatory framework , while considering global standards and approaches.Improve compliance by developing effective policies and programs; that are based on risk; facilitate partnerships and support consistency.

Improve service delivery by applying standardized inspection approaches based on risk and prevention, and supported by appropriate services and tools.

Area of Focus Outcomes

Sta

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Safe Food For Canadians Act

Stage 2: Analyse Data and

Draft Recommendations

Stage 1:Launch, Engage

and Gather Issues

Stage 3: Engage on Draft

Recommendations & Analyse Data

Stage 4:Finalize Report on Recommendations & Implementation

Proposal

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Issues Gathered & Engagement Completed

Approval of Draft Recommendations

Completed Engagement

June- December 2013 January - May 2014 June – November 2014 December 2014 – June 2015

Tim

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17Objective: • Identify and analyze issues that will lead to development of recommendations for a more modern and innovative food labelling system

18Other Proposed Elements• Organics Products Regulations: Organics regulations do not currently cover

aquaculture because they were under CAPA. An Aquaculture Organic Standard is now published and SFCA regulations represent an opportunity to include aquaculture, as well as to address some other non-substantive issues, such as unclear wording in some places

• Licensing and Arbitration Regulations (LAR): Replace regulations and “dual licensing” with a requirement for fruit and vegetable dealers to be members of a non-government entity to facilitate orderly trade and better align with system in United States

• Disclosure of personal and confidential business information without consent related to food safety investigations; food recalls; licence suspensions or cancellations; notice of violations, warning and penalties issued under AAMPS; and, refused shipments upon entry into Canada

• Review and Redress: On April 1, 2012, the CFIA created a Complaints and Appeals Office (CAO) to provide stakeholders with a "single window" and clearly defined process to submit complaints related to service delivery, administrative errors, and regulatory decisions. New regulations would formalize the regulatory function, with authority to make new decisions

19Proposed Pillars of a Compliance Promotion

StrategyPillars Examples of Potential Applications

Education Enhanced online search function Guidance documents for both stakeholders and CFIA employees Enhanced use of social media Webinars and YouTube videos demonstrations on key topics

Technical Assistance

Plain language synopses to complement legal documents Training opportunities are provided through partnerships Model systems Searchable question and answer repository Templates, self-assessments and checklists

Transparent Communication

Industry best practices highlighted as examples Compliance and enforcement data is shared publicly

Compliance Incentives

Compliance history supports ability to adjust inspection frequencies Support programs conditional on compliance License suspensions and monetary penalties act as deterrents

Coming into Force and Next Steps

• Consultations on these initiatives will continue until November 30, 2013

• Formal Notice of Intent of new federal food inspection regulations in Spring 2014 , including– draft content of food inspection regulations

– supported by first draft suite of guidance documents for industry

• Revise documents on other initiatives will also be available• Target for new Food Inspection Regulations to Come into

Force: January 2015

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Feedback

• By email: CFIA-Modernisation-ACIA@inspection.gc.ca• By mail:

Strategic Partnerships Division1400 Merivale Road, Tower 1Floor 6, suite 218Ottawa, ON K1A 0Y9CanadaAttn: regulatory framework

• By fax: 613-773-5606

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