martes, 21 de octubre de 2014

Foreign Food Safety Systems Recognition: Proposed Framework

Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA) included regulations to be made under the Act, and the Integrated Agency Inspection Model.

While Canada has a well-developed food safety system, it has also recognized that continuous improvement is needed to ensure that Canadians maintain access to safe food.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has embarked on a change agenda designed to strengthen how food commodities are regulated in Canada. Change initiatives include the new Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA), regulations to be made under the Act, and the Integrated Agency Inspection Model.

The SFCA, when fully in force, establishes a modern legislative framework for food safety. Recognizing the challenging import environment, the SFCA significantly strengthens import oversight authorities.

Canada currently uses a range of tools and approaches for import control, based on its legislative and regulatory framework, to target inspection resources and verify compliance with requirements, including: pre-border (e.g., arrangements with an exporting country; certification), at border (e.g., admissibility of shipments) and post-border activities (e.g., inspection, sampling and testing), or a combination thereof.

As the CFIA modernizes its food safety regulatory system, it has an opportunity to make greater use of tools that could optimize its risk management activities for imports.

Many of Canada's trading partners have mature food safety control systems with public health outcomes that are broadly comparable to Canada's system. Others have commodity-specific export control systems that can provide confidence that Canadian requirements will be met. CFIA can better leverage these systems in its risk management approaches for imports using tools such as systems recognition.

The new document elaborates on the use of foreign food safety systems recognition as an import control tool.

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