Brian Evans, Canada’s chief food safety officer, was on Parliament Hill recently assuring MPs that an auditor’s report about deficiencies in imported food inspections does not expose food safety problems.
“In response to the interest generated by this report, I want to assure this committee that all food sold in Canada, whether domestic or imported, must comply with the Food and Drugs Act and regulations and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and regulations,” he told the House of Commons agriculture committee.
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“Simply put, the obligation to provide safe food is no different for food importers than it is for domestic food producers.”
He said the audit did not reflect on the “integrity or quality” of the food inspection system.
“It did not examine frontline inspection activities as this was not within the scope of this particular audit,” said Evans. “The audit assessed the management framework only.”
Yet despite his assurance that audit criticisms did not mean flaws in the inspection system for imported foods, he then went on to assure MPs that since the report’s 2005-08 time frame, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has and will make numerous improvements to the system.
“In response to the rapid globalization of the food supply, the CFIA has taken decisive action on how we manage this food sector,” he said.
The actions and plans include:
• Imposing better controls over inspection of products in the nonregistered sector, including cereals, spices and seasonings;
• Enhancing the “governance structure” of the food safety regime including creating the position of chief food safety officer;
• Working with the Canada Border Services Agency last year top conduct 62 border blitzes to check imports;
• Increasing testing of high-risk foods being imported;
• Ending the practice of giving importers of meat from the United States a 72-hour notice if their shipment was going to be inspected. Evans said there are more improvements to come.
“On the policy front, the CFIA is on track to revise and update its Import Control Policy in early 2011,” he said. “In the meantime, we have established an integrated approach to forecast and prioritize annual inspection, sampling and testing activities.”
Opposition MPs later wondered why so many improvements were needed if the audit did not reflect poorly on the system then in place.
Earlier this year, a report by CFIA staff auditor Peter Everson said the agency inspection system is flawed and relies too much on reports from inspectors in the countries of origin.
“In my opinion, CFIA management of imported food safety has deficiencies that represent multiple areas of risk exposure requiring significant improvements related to the governance, control and risk management processes,” Everson said.
Evans and other senior CFIA officials faced accusations from the inspectors’ union that there are too few frontline inspectors to police imports.
“CFIA cannot afford to dedicate full-time inspectors to ensure the safety of imported food products,” said the agriculture union of the Public Service Alliance of Canada in a note to MPs.
“The only inspectors dedicated to food imports are wholly funded by the industry and their purpose is wholly commercial, to determine the quality and grade of imported products and therefore their market value, not to identify threats to public health and safety.”
The union said certifying food exports is mandatory but there is “wide discretion” to allow imported food products onto grocery shelves uninspected.
“This creates an impossible balancing act for inspectors and the CFIA who are subject to heavy pressure from the Canadian food industry to certify their shipments for export.”
Evans was not asked by MPs directly to respond to the union allegation.
He said the agency is hiring more inspectors and he agreed with Conservative MP Pierre Lemieux that fixating on the number of inspectors does not do the food inspection and safety system justice.
Many shipments crossing the border are not inspected but an audit system and co-operation with inspectors in the country of origin work to keep the food system safe.
“I’m firm in my view that food safety is about a system,” he said.
“It’s not about a single inspection point in a broader context. You cannot test and inspect your way to food safety because of the nature of food production.”
