Late last year, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ordered more inspector presence at plants shipping product to the United States after American warnings that staff levels did not meet U.S. standards.
But lack of approved budget to hire more staff meant the added inspections were being done on overtime.
In a Nov. 5, 2009, memo to staff, CFIA vice-president for operations Cameron Price said the agency did not have approval to hire more inspectors and existing inspectors were being asked to voluntarily work overtime.
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“As part of Canada’s continued efforts to enhance food safety, the CFIA will be providing additional inspection coverage starting in early November, initially on each 12-hour processing shift in certain establishments processing meat products,” he wrote in a memo obtained and published March 15 by the Agriculture Union of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
“This will also allow us to better meet the USDA’s technical requirements for products exported to the U.S.”
In background question and answer briefing notes for staff, CFIA said additional inspection hours would be assigned to 80 food processing plants that export to the U.S.
“If a company wishes to export to the U.S., there are specific technical requirements that must be met,” said the memo. “The need for additional inspection coverage on each 12-hour processing shift is one of those requirements.”
In an interview March 15, CFIA national inspection manager Tom Graham said the 100 required new staff have not yet been hired “but we are in the process of doing that.” He said the plan is to have the hiring done by summer.
In the House of Commons March 15, New Democrat food safety critic Malcolm Allen said it appeared Canadians are getting shortchanged on inspection.
“Meat shipped to the U.S. is checked daily, meat shipped to Canada weekly.”
Graham and agriculture minister Gerry Ritz both denied the charge.
“The U.S. requires a daily presence but I can tell you products for the U.S. and Canada receive the same overall inspection,” said Graham.
The union had a different interpretation. It deemed the situation as clear evidence that CFIA is understaffed and needs an injection of money.
“Unless the government makes new investments in food safety, the CFIA will face a choice – ignore the USDA’s demands and risk losing access to the U.S. market for Canadian processed meat products or elevate food contamination risks for Canadian consumers by diverting scarce resources away from other inspection programs,” Agriculture Union president Bob Kingston said March 15.
He said a government-wide freeze on administrative budgets announced in the March 4 budget will make things worse by squeezing CFIA finances even more.
In his November memo to staff, Price said it was unclear when funding would be available for permanent inspector hires and how long existing inspectors would be asked to work overtime.
In its background briefing document, the agency said no employee will be expected to work “an unreasonable amount of overtime” because of the policy. “What is considered reasonable will be determined in the context of operational needs and employee health and well-being.”
In the House of Commons last week, Liberal agriculture critic Wayne Easter was complaining that CFIA needs more inspectors to monitor imports, not exports.
“The government needs to spend money to hire inspectors to ensure that products that come in here do not disadvantage Canadian producers and come in under the same standards as Canadian producers must meet,” he said March 12.
