Catching ‘rotten apples’ | Second reading expected before summer break
One of the goals of the federal government’s proposed food safety legislation will be to rein in “rotten apples” willing to cut corners for profit, says the bill’s Senate sponsor.
Manitoba Conservative senator Don Plett opened debate on Bill S-11 last week with the assertion that Canadian farmers and food producers generally play by food safety rules because it is in their interests.
“All that said, we have to acknowledge that there may be some rotten apples. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that the odd person can be less than scrupulous,” he said.
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“There may be a willingness to cut corners for extra profit even if it puts their customers at potential risk. I suspect these cases arise partly because some people believe they can break the law undetected or with few negative consequences.”
Plett said the new bill will give the Canadian Food Inspection Agency more powers to investigate and prosecute and make fines for deliberate violations of food safety rules much harsher.
“I do not expect that the CFIA would have cause to draw on these enforcement tools very often, but when such isolated incidents occur, the agency needs the tools to be able to act quickly.”
Plett’s office said he expects second reading (in principle) approval of the bill will occur this week before Parliament rises for the summer. Committee hearings for detailed study and witness testimony will follow.
Plett said the bill is aimed at upgrading and modernizing the CFIA legislative base by combining four food inspection laws into one, giving inspectors more investigative powers and aligning Canada’s food safety rules with major trading partners, including the United States.
It also strengthens Canada’s policing of the $28 billion worth of food imported each year into Canada.
Plett said there are flaws in the inspection of imported food, despite CFIA officials’ assurances at House of Commons agriculture committee meetings that imports are inspected and dealt with as rigorously as are domestic products.
Plett said existing rules do not allow rigorous control over the quality or safety of imported food. The new regime will allow the CFIA to license importers and hold them responsible for the quality of their imports, including tracing them to source.
“As it stands now, we can only prohibit the sale of imported products that pose a risk once they are in Canada,” he said. “There are no existing provisions to prevent those unsafe products from entering our country in the first place. What is more, when an importer is breaking the law, our enforcement measures are not as stringent as they could be.”
He said the new legislation, expected to receive Liberal opposition support in the Senate, will strengthen safety precautions with imported food.
Last week, Ontario Federation of Agriculture president Mark Wales endorsed the new federal legislation as an improvement.
He said stronger controls on imported food are important.
“Leveling the playing field for imports has been a long-standing issue for OFA members,” he said in a statement.
“New import controls will include the power to prohibit the importation of unsafe food commodities.
