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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)

An overview

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Our people

Approx. 7,200 dedicated and highly trained professionals work across Canada.

We have:18 regional offices160 field offices

Our Senior Management

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Organization:

Agency is now reporting to Minister of Health for Food/Consumer Protection and Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food for our Animal Health and Plant Protection mandate.

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Budget 2014

• First budget tabled where the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is part of the Health Portfolio, and it included a number of key policy decisions.

• Many of the Budget themes touched on the Agency's regulatory transformation, including reducing regulatory burden, Canada-US regulatory cooperation, and modernizing legislation like the Plant Breeders Rights Act

• Under the broader theme of "Supporting Families and Communities", Budget 2014 announced $390 M over 5 years to strengthen Canada's food safety system.

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Agency Transformation

• The CFIA is transforming how it delivers its mandated programs and activities to better meet the needs of today’s consumer and industry. We are:

• consolidating and modernizing our regulations• being more consistent in how we interpret and enforce

them• streamlining processes• using a more rigour process to integrate science in our

decisions, and • providing single-window access to services whenever

feasible

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Safe Food for Canadians Action Plan

• The Action Plan aims to strengthen Canada’s food safety system through:

• stronger food safety rules• more effective inspection• a renewed commitment to service, and • more information for consumers.

 

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Legislative and Regulatory Modernization• Multi-year, comprehensive review of our regulatory frameworks

for all three business lines

• The Safe Food for Canadians Act will replace the 13 existing food regulations with a single set of food inspection regulations

• User fees review

• Agency-wide strategy for compliance promotion

• Vision of applying the modernized inspection model across all CFIA regulated commodities to integrate non-food activities.

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Licensing

• Movement towards a single licensing/permissions process for all importers and domestic producers.

• This single process will be highly automated and supported by information management and information technology.

• Licensing will be supported by the Centre of Administration

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Exports

• Establishment of a single, automated process for processing and issuing export certificates across all business lines

• Creation of an electronic certification system that will allow the electronic transfer of information and export certificates, speeding up the administrative process.

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Imports

• Movement towards a single licensing system to promote efficiency and consistency

• A highly automated system of information exchange which will promote informed decision making

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Risk Assessment

• Development of a structured approach to analyzing risk and hazards to help determine the frequency, intensity and type of oversight required.

• Qualitative and quantitative data used to characterize the level of risk and produce a risk rating at the establishment level.

• Outcomes from the risk ratings will inform and guide the direction and development of work plans and priority activities on a risk basis.

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Inspection Verification Teams

• Will oversee the performance of Canada’s entire food inspection system by verifying the overall system is effective and that food safety rules and standards are consistently and rigorously followed and enforced.

• Existing front-line CFIA inspectors will continue to conduct specified daily tasks to verify that a plant's food safety requirements are being met.

• The IVTs will have a broader audit role that will include in-depth assessments of a plant's food safety controls and operations, as well as inspection activities.

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Field operations and enforcement

• Development of a single inspection delivery approach for food, and common delivery approaches across animal and plant health.

• Work plans that incorporate risk-based program design, and risk-based priority setting to direct activities in the field and for activities carried out in our laboratories.

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Strengthened tools

• New online food labelling tool

• provides industry with a self-assessment checklist, examples of the regulations in practice, and detailed diagrams of product labels so they can continue to protect food safety.

• consolidates the Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising, and other food labelling information into one tool

• Reference Database for Hazard Identification (RDHI)

• a tool to identify food-related hazards in production and processing.

• Will assist food processors and producers to develop more accurate, effective and uniform food safety procedures and preventive control plans, such as HACCP Plans

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