Imports of unpasteurized milk and manure products pose significant public and animal health risks, senior Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials were warned last year.
The agency is still is considering what to do about it.
Human and animal health as well as foreign market access could be jeopardized.
A presentation to CFIA officials by Dr. Ann Allain of the agency’s animal products directorate said pathogens in raw milk and manure products could expose Canadian animals to disease and Canadians to diseases ranging from tuberculosis to hemorrhage-inducing afflictions.
Read Also
Going beyond “Resistant” on crop seed labels
Variety resistance is getting more specific on crop disease pathogens, but that information must be conveyed in a way that actually helps producers make rotation decisions.
The problem is that health and pathogen inspections in other countries are often not as stringent as Canadian standards, she said, according to her presentation obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin under access-to-information rules.
The CFIA is planning to propose tougher import inspection rules, but no date has been set for publishing proposed regulations or implementing new rules.
More consultation and bureaucratic delays will follow as final regulations are drafted and approved.
It is a year and a half since the alarm was raised.
“The CFIA is considering various mitigation measures for hazards of concern which may be present in some imported milk and manures and their associated products,” the agency said by email in response to questions about the issue.
The CFIA would not make an official available to discuss the issues and implications until proposed regulatory changes are published and opened for comment. Instead, it issued several terse statements.
In her presentation, Allain said CFIA and Health Canada officials have supported a tightening of import rules.
Initial industry consultation ended late last year.
“Increasing importation of products not previously imported to Canada increases the risk of disease introduction (or) spread,” she said,
“Disease incursions will jeopardize market access. Significant trading partners have not taken the path Canada has chosen for some of the diseases of concern (such as TB eradication and prevention).”
She also said Canada has a “higher animal health status” than the United States and is declared free of TB and brucellosis, while the U.S. is not.
Allain argued that while increased border inspection for targeted imports could cost $60,000 annually, “benefits to CFIA of only one avoided disease investigation per year (is) estimated to be 10 times greater than the costs.”
The CFIA has made it clear to the industry that the Canadian raw milk market is not being investigated. Imports of raw milk would still be allowed, “provided they meet acceptable levels of protection.”
A background document for industry consultation last year said the issue arises in part because of in-creased international trade in milk and milk products from non-traditional species, including camels and horses, and import of manure or fertilizer products containing manure from horses and bats.
“These changing trade patterns increase the risk that foreign animal diseases could enter Canada,” it said.
According to the text of her presentation to CFIA officials last year, Allain argued that “current regulations with regard to the import of raw milk and import conditions for man-ure do not adequately safeguard against hazards to animal health and public safety.”
