Interprovincial trade in meat and poultry will be allowed starting next year.
The federal government and Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced a four month pilot project in November that allows provincially inspected meat facilities to process and ship their products outside provincial boundaries.
Provincially inspected abattoirs and processors are invited to submit applications to their respective province or territory by Jan. 7. Further information on requirements will be released by year end. 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 Alberta Agriculture’s Safe Food branch.
The government has promised up to $3 million for approved projects through the federal-provincial agricultural flexibility fund for upgrading of plants or other food safety improvements 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 only buy 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 CFIA will inspect the selected plants to make sure they meet food safety standards, said Cliff Munroe of Alberta Agriculture.
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.
There are about 1,000 establishments in Alberta that could apply. They include provincially inspected facilities as well as some operations under Alberta Health Services.
