The CBC says it has obtained an internal memo that indicates
the E. coli 0157:H7 problems at XL Foods Inc. plant in Alberta have snagged
plans to streamline Canada-U.S. meat inspection at border crossings.
But in a lengthy story posted online, it also quotes U.S.
and Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials saying the pilot project is
scheduled to go ahead sometime this year and last for one year.
James Laws, spokesman for the Canadian Meat Council, says
the pilot project doesn’t really change much. Instead of pulling samples at the
border crossings, they will be taken when shipments arrive at their
destination.
The level of sampling will remain the same - one shipment in 10.
All other shipments which have had their paperwork cleared
before heading to the border will continue to move through as normal.
What caught the CBC’s attention is an internal memo in the
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa that warned
that the XL Foods Inc. situation would add fuel to the protests filed by U.S.
inspectors who work at the border and whose work load – and perhaps hours –would
be reduced.
The U.S. border inspectors speak through Food & Water
Watch which lobbies in Washington and said it has evidence that border
inspectors in the Niagara area caught shipments of unfit meat from Canada.
In a lobbying letter, the coalition (it represents
inspectors at 10 border stations) says that border-site inspectors have
identified “damaged meat shipments, visible fecal contamination and toxic
chemicals that were co-mingled with meat products.
“These were all returned to Canada and prevented from
entering U.S. commerce by the border inspection system.”
Food and Water Watch also claims the incidence of food
poisoning is higher in Canada than the United States and cites the Maple Leaf
Foods inc. recall and deaths due to Listeria monocytogenes and the XL Foods
recall, which was the largest beef recall in Canadian history.
Food and Water Watch wants the pilot project to be
cancelled.
In that context, the internal memo at DFAIT says "their
charges could undermine confidence in the Canadian food safety system writ
large, potentially among some actors directly responsible for a range of
policies with significant economic impact on the Canadian agricultural
sector."
Frankly, I don't see any breathless news story in all of this. It sounds like a perfectly reasonable cautionary note from a DFAIT person doing his routine job.
As for Food and Water Watch, they sound like the union representing Canadian meat inspectors - more concerned about their jobs than anything else.
