Canadian Food Inspection Agency
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (French: Agence canadienne d'inspection des aliments), or CFIA, which was created in April 1997, brought together inspection and related services previously provided through the activities of four federal government departments – Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Health Canada and Industry Canada. The establishment of the CFIA consolidated the delivery of all federal food, animal and plant health inspection programmes.
Although the group is termed an agency, it is still highly influenced by the politics, bureaucracy and standards of any other government body.
The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food is responsible for the CFIA. The Minister of Health is responsible for establishing policies and standards for the safety and nutritional quality of food sold in Canada; the administration of those provisions of the Canadian Food and Drugs Act that relate to public health, safety and nutrition; and for assessing the effectiveness of the Agency’s activities related to food safety.
Under the various acts and regulations which the CFIA follows, it protects Canadians from preventable health risks and protects consumers through a fair and effective food, animal and plant regulatory regime that supports competitive domestic and international markets
The first parts of the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations were published in 1985 in the Canada Gazette (Official Newspaper of the Government of Canada). Since the conception, various legal interpretation have been passed down and molded the operational priorities of CFIA. Regular inspections were no longer conducted as the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations prescribed entry to food producing premises were allowed based on reasonable grounds. In such, only after an incident were to occur can CFIA inspect a company on legal grounds. CFIA rely on consumer/industry complaints as well as Health Canada to provide reasonable grounds for entry.
Other Acts and Regulations do specify inspection requirements and for certain trade requirement, the need to register with CFIA to conduct business. Such companies are termed "registered facility" as oppose to those "unregistered facilities" that fall under the Food and Drugs Act. Most of practices followed by unregistered facility are only recommendations and guidelines. There are no government issued penalties for not following the voluntary practices. Some companies will opt to use third party standards such as HACCP or ISO in order to meet client specified standards. These standards are more closely adhered to due to the potential loss of business.
Under the Food and Drugs Act, it does not provide the power to recall food products. In such circumstances, CFIA can request a company to conduct a recall and hence it would become voluntary on the company's part. If a company were to deny the request, then CFIA can enforce a mandatory recall which the Ministry of Agriculture would issue under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act. [1] Such recall request would only be conducted if there was potential harm to the consumer (Class I or Class II).
CFIA rates their recalls in three classifications.
"Class I" is a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.
"Class II" is a situation in which the use of, or exposure to, a violative product may cause temporary adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote.
"Class III" is a situation in which the use of, or exposure to, a violative product is not likely to cause any adverse health consequences.
Class I and sometimes class II recalls are advertised. Depending on the political implications, any class of recalls can be advertised. Unadvertised recalls can only be obtained via the Canada Access to Information. [2]
Recall classifications are conducted by Food Safety Investigation Recall with the aid of the Food Safety Investigation Program
It should also be known that the Food and Drugs Act does not have any requirements for domestic manufacturers to notify the agency of their existence. Companies can manufacture product for years before ever being inspected. There are approximately 10 475 importers in Canada in 2005. These importers can account for over 20 billion kilograms of food products every year. There are also no requirements in the Food and Drugs Act to notify CFIA of their existence. Data provided through Customs Canada.
See also
External links
| Departments of the Government of Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Principal Departments: |
Agriculture
and Agri-Food · Canadian Heritage · Citizenship and Immigration · Environment · Fisheries and
Oceans · |
 |
| Major Agencies: | Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency · Canada Border Services Agency · Canadian Coast Guard · Canada Revenue Agency · Canadian Food Inspection Agency · Canadian International Development Agency · Canadian Space Agency · Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec · Parks Canada · Passport Canada · Public Health Agency · Royal Canadian Mounted Police · Service Canada · Western Economic Diversification Canada | |
| Other Departments: | Infrastructure · Library and Archives | |
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