Thank you.
Good morning, Mr. Chairman, committee members.
I appreciate the opportunity to appear before the committee. My name is Sandra Wing, and I am the Vice-President of Policy and Programs. The agency is dedicated to safeguarding food, animals and plants, which enhances the health and well-being of Canada's people, environment and economy.
Food safety is a top priority for the Government of Canada. It is the agency's number one priority. We develop and deliver programs and services to protect Canadians from preventable health risks and to ensure that food safety emergencies are effectively managed.
We live in an era of increased trade and globalization. Our food safety system must evolve to meet the challenges we face, challenges posed by increasing trade, consumer demands, and differing food safety frameworks among countries.
The Speech from the Throne committed the government to introduce measures on food and product safety so that families can have confidence in what they buy. Amendments will be proposed to the Food and Drugs Act to allow this to happen in relation to food.
The amendments will also improve the legal foundation for the Food and Consumer Product Safety Action Plan, which Prime Minister Harper launched in December. The plan is intended to enhance the safety and reliability of consumer, food and health products by modernizing our system to better protect Canadians in our global environment.
Through this approach, more emphasis will be placed on verifying that industry measures are managing risks along the food continuum. Rather than waiting for problems to emerge, the emphasis will be placed on preventing problems early on. And, in the case where problems are identified, we will be able to respond quickly and take any necessary measures.
While not specifically a food safety issue, the action plan also includes a commitment to review the government's current policies on the use of "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" on food labels and advertising. To make this a reality, we are working with consumers, the private sector, and our partners in government to find appropriate ways of addressing consumer calls for more information.
The Government of Canada is also committed to a new way of managing tax dollars to ensure every dollar spent delivers results for Canadians. A key element of this new approach is to conduct strategic reviews of all program spending on a four-year cycle.
In the fall of 2007, the CFIA was one of the 17 initial departments and agencies that undertook a comprehensive reassessment of its programs. As a result, the agency put forward a series of reallocation proposals that could more effectively support government priorities.
As outlined in last week's budget, savings realized through these initiatives will be reallocated to higher priority and higher performing programs. This will enable us to better manage emerging health risks, and ensure the quality and safety of food that Canadians purchase.
Another initiative that we are working on is the Government of Canada's Paper Burden Reduction Initiative, which aims to reduce the paper burden on businesses by 20%. As a key partner, the agency will be identifying areas where administrative and paperwork burden can be reduced. The recent budget confirmed a deadline of November 2008 for achieving these reductions.
Before I talk about our operating budget, I would like to touch on BSE, a significant issue that we have been dealing with for some time now.
As you know, the first case of BSE in Canada resulted in the closing of many important markets for Canadian beef, cattle, and bovine genetics, but in the four years since then, 33 markets have reopened to Canadian exports, either partially or fully. I'm pleased to say that Canadian exports are now substantially at the levels they were pre-BSE.
Canadian industry remains strongly committed to gaining full access for Canadian beef, cattle, and genetics in all markets. The government continues to work with industry to pursue this objective by all means available. These efforts include ongoing bilateral discussions with potential markets and regular representations in multilateral fora such as the World Trade Organization.
In these efforts, the CFIA leads the work on technical market access negotiations, including organizing incoming and outgoing missions, providing technical information on BSE and Canada's BSE-related measures, and issuing export certificates.
I'll turn now to the agency's operating budget for 2007-08, which has increased by approximately by $17.8 million. This money will help us to deliver on our mandate in the following ways.
First, a large portion of the money, $16.7 million, is for a one-time retroactive payment resulting from the engineering and scientific support group reclassification.
The agency will be receiving in supplementary estimates (B) $575,000 to implement the consumer product and food recall advertising campaign. This two-year campaign will invest a total of $4.575 million, and is aimed at increasing Canadians' awareness of consumer product and food recalls. It will also point Canadians to the website where they can subscribe to the agency's food recall e-mail list serve.
We will be getting a $586,000 transfer from Public Works and Government Services Canada. This amount represents savings due to a relocation of CFIA staff into Health Canada facilities. The agency's decision to consolidate staff will increase the efficiency and use of federal government space.
As well, $15,000 will be transferred to Environment Canada. This money will go toward increasing aboriginal participation in science and technology careers in the federal public service.
Finally, $12,500 will be transferred to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for avian influenza pandemic preparedness research, the goal of which is to strengthen our knowledge base and enhance our capacity in pandemic preparedness research.
These additional funds, which bring the agency's appropriations for 2007-08 to $627.9 million, will help us continue to successfully protect Canada's food supply and safeguard human, animal, and plant health.
Thank you.
