Canada Proposes Monetary Penalties in Food Safety Enforcement: Give Your Input Until March 22, 2014

This video presents “Linda Duncan on food safety enforcement regime.”

Linda Duncan, MP (Edmonton-Strathcona) speaks to the government’s record on food safety enforcement.

The Government of Canada is proposing regulatory amendments to:

enable the issuance of fines – Administrative Monetary Penalities (AMPs) – to strengthen food safety enforcement, and
expand AMPs to the Meat Inspection Act and the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990.

AMPs provide Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspectors with an additional enforcement option when working with the meat industry.

For example, they may be applied if a company withholds information, such as a positive E. coli test result, or records that are needed as part of a food safety investigation, or if a company is regularly identified for not complying with requirements.

The CFIA is responsible for:

the administration and enforcement of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act, Canada Agricultural Products Act, Feeds Act, Fertilizers Act, Fish Inspection Act, Health of Animals Act, Meat Inspection Act, Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, Plant Protection Act and Seeds Act;
the enforcement of the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act as it relates to food, as that term is defined in section 2 of the Food and Drugs Act;
the enforcement of the Food and Drugs Act as it relates to food, as defined in section 2 of that Act; and
the administration of the provisions of the Food and Drugs Act as they relate to food, as defined in section 2 of that Act, except those provisions that relate to public health, safety or nutrition.

Hence, AMPs are an additional option to respond to non-compliance, and the CFIA acts and regulations provide many options for responding to non-compliance.

These are outlined in the CFIA’s Compliance and Enforcement Operational Policy.
- The CFIA may respond with, for example, education, written warnings, seizure and detention of product or prosecution when non-compliance is found, depending on the nature of the contravention and the compliance history of the contravener.

The purpose of the AMPs Act is to enhance the enforcement options currently available in respect of seven statutes administered by the CFIA (the Canada Agricultural Products Act, the Feeds Act, the Fertilizers Act, the Health of Animals Act, the Meat Inspection Act, the Plant Protection Act, and the Seeds Act), and one statute (the Pest Control Products Act) administered by Health Canada.
- “The AMPs Act establishes an alternative to the existing penal system and supplements current enforcement measures such as prosecution.“

The proposed amendments to the AMPs Regulations were published in Canada Gazette, Part 1 on February 22, 2014.

The comment period will be open until March 22, 2014.
Interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed Regulations.
- All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Dr. Parthiban Muthukumarasamy, A/Director, Meat Programs Division, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, 1400 Merivale Road, Tower 1, Floor 4, Room 228, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y9 (tel.: 613-773-6162; fax: 613-773-6281; email: Parthiban.Muthukumarasamy@inspection.gc.ca).

NEWS RELEASE

Notice to Industry – Government of Canada Launches Consultations to Strengthen Food Safety Enforcement

Ottawa, February 25, 2014: The Government of Canada is proposing to amend the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalities Regulations (AMPs Regulations) to expand Administrative Monetary Penalities (AMPs) to the Meat Inspection Act and the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990.

The proposed regulatory amendments will enable the issuance of monetary penalties for violation of these laws.

AMPs are an important element of a modern enforcement and inspection system. They provide an additional tool to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspectors’ existing toolkit for addressing non-compliance, without having to suspend or cancel a licence or seek prosecution.

The expansion of the AMPs Regulations supports other activities being undertaken by the CFIA, as set out in the Healthy and Safe Food for Canadians Framework. This framework outlines how the Government is working to prevent food safety risks, and protect Canadians when unsafe products enter the marketplace.

The proposed amendments to the AMPs Regulations were published in Canada Gazette, Part 1 on February 22, 2014. The comment period will be open until March 22, 2014.