Interprovincial trade in meat will be allowed starting this year.
The federal government announced a four month pilot project in late 2010 that allows provincially inspected meat facilities to process and ship their products outside provincial boundaries.
One or two plants per province will be accepted.
“The pilot will try to pick very diverse plants across the country so you get everybody from a lamb abattoir to a chicken sausage maker and get a diversity to see if the modifications can work for all types of facilities,” said Sandy Honour, head of Alberta Agriculture’s safe food branch.
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The government has promised up to $3 million for approved projects through the Agri-Flexibility fund for upgrading plants or making other food safety improvements that are needed to move their products across the country.
The plan offers opportunities to facilities that would like to do business outside provincial borders such as supplying products to national grocery chains that typically buy only from federal facilities.
At the end of the pilot, facilities should be able to apply for the joint funding and see if they can achieve federal registration.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will inspect the selected plants to make sure they meet food safety standards, said Cliff Munroe of Alberta Agriculture.
To be successful, the plants should have a marketing plan in place and should probably consider offering a niche product because they are unlikely to be able to compete with the large federal plants that can offer product cheaper and faster, said Munroe.
Government will work closely with the selected establishments to conduct evaluations, collect samples and information and validate new inspection procedures.
Each province has its own meat inspection rules so not all may be interested in joining the pilot project.
For example, Alberta must meet its provincial meat facilities standards, which include good manufacturing practices and hazard analysis critical control points programs.
There are about 1,000 establishments in Alberta that could apply. These include provincially inspected facilities as well as operations that come under Alberta Health Services authority.
