Canada Proposes Amendments to Meat-Inspection Regulations
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has proposed amendments to its federal meat inspection rules to better align them with the regulations and policies of major trading partners such as the United States and the European Union. According to CFIA, the plan updates a 1990 rule but does not lower food safety standards. Instead, among other things, it would “repeal certain redundant requirements” to make it easier for small- to medium-sized slaughterhouses and meat-processing plants to achieve federal registration so that they could expand trade opportunities both in and outside Canada.
Under current law, Canadian plants that are provincially registered cannot sell or export their meat products outside their home province unless they are also federally registered. According to CFIA, 730 establishments are federally registered and approximately 4,000 are not, most notably because “becoming federally registered is expensive, with costs varying greatly from establishment to establishment in relation to the volume and nature of product.” The agency asserts that the proposed rules could save establishments seeking federal registration approximately $50,000.
Other proposed amendments include (i) streamlining packaging and labeling registration; (ii) providing greater flexibility in the activities within a registered establishment; (iii) allowing an inspector, not an official government veterinarian, to sign export certificates; and (iv) establishing a register of allowable materials and coatings for food packaging to remove multiple checks and requirements. “There are already adequate safeguards to ensure that material is safe and suitable for use,” CFIA noted.
