While the food and
agriculture industry issued news releases praising the federal government’s
proposed legislation on food safety, several industry leaders expressed
reservations during hearings by the Senate agriculture committee.
They said they support the
goals, but often said “the devil is in the details” and then raised concerns.
For example, Robin Horel,
president and chief executive officer for the Canadian Poultry and Egg
Processors Council, which has 170 members who hold 99 per cent market share,
said “we have received concerns from members about the current drafting of
clause 24(2)(e) of the proposed legislation that would appear to allow
any inspector in any facility to commandeer any computer at any time to access
any content that is either contained in the individual computer hard drive or
on the company computer system.”
He did not say which members
raised that issue, but it might be egg graders in Ontario where lawyers for
L.H. Gray and Son Ltd. and Burnbrae Farms Ltd. are fighting to keep computer
records out of an explosive lawsuit charging them with conspiracy to drive Best
Choice Eggs out of business.
They have denied the allegations.
Horel went on to say “ although the desire to assure a means of access to compliance‑related data is
understood and accepted, the current unlimited provision appears to be more
extensive than necessary or justified.
“At a minimum, an inspector
should be required to declare reasonable grounds to access individual computers
or company computer systems that may contain primarily personal and/or
personnel information as well as other information that is unrelated to
compliance verification,” he said.
Senator Pierre Cardin, later
in the hearing, asked Horel to provide that concern in writing, adding that it
would help to have it come with comment by a lawyer.
Jim Laws, speaking for the
Canadian Meat Council, said they want the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to
move from paper to electronic records for export certificates. He said the paperwork
involves multiple copies that need to be signed, including signatures from a
veterinary inspector who might be hard to chase down.
He said electronic records
would make it much easier to gather approvals and present them to import
officers for other countries, particularly the United States.
He also complained that U.S.
border inspectors always open the back of trucks carrying meat, even though
they have been inspected and sealed at the plant by a Canadian Food Inspection
Agency official.
He said it’s not fair that
meat is the only type of shipment that is treated this way by U.S. border
officials. He said it costs $100 per truckload and, if the load is one of the
10 per cent that are chosen for sampling, the charge rises to about $400.
He said it would be better if
U.S. officials allowed those 10 per cent of shipments that are sampled to
travel to destination for sampling there, as is the Canadian practice.
He also complained that the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency takes too long to approve new packaging
materials, and cited the example of a can developed by a Danish company. It’s
lighter, much cheaper and has a quick-release top, he said.
This can was approved by U.S.
officials long before Canadians could use it, so these cans were imported and
sold by Canadian supermarket chains, resulting in “unfair competition” for
Canadian packers, Laws said.
In a similar vein, Rory
McAlpine of Maple Leaf Foods Inc. said U.S. officials are often months ahead of
the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in approving advanced testing methodology
and standards. He urged greater harmonization.
Gordon Harrison, president of
the Canadian Millers Association, called for harmonization of the Food and Drug
Act, which falls under Health Canada, and this new food safety act for the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
He drew attention to the
distinction between additives and adulterants and said they could and should be
dealt with under unified legislation and regulatory procedures.
There has been a great deal
of publicity about cuts to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency budget contained
in the federal government’s budget bill, and the senators asked about that.
Horel said he, too, was
curious about the 10 per cent cut and when he asked the president of the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency during a briefing meeting, was told it will not
reduce “front-line inspection”.
