Agriculture Committee on May 3rd, 2007

[André Gravel]

Brian, do you want to answer that?

[Dr. Brian Evans]

Currently, July 12 is the implementation enforcement date. The United States have already made adjustments to their program to ensure that feed sources coming into Canada are fully compliant with our food system inspection requirements as they relate to SRM removal.

That was incorporated back in 1997 in the original food ban requirements. There was an adjustment made to ensure that what was being imported by Canada from the United States was in full compliance.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Excuse me. Does that mean they will not have any SRM products in them?

[Dr. Brian Evans]

That's correct, as it relates to feeding ruminant animals. Again, part of that requires us to continue to be vigilant. You made specific reference to pet food that could potentially contain SRM from the United States. That product could not be imported for use in Canada if it had any relationship to ruminant feeding.

As has already been pointed out, reconstitution of that type of product--because of previous adoption of legislation that deals with other diseases like foot-and-mouth disease--does not allow swine and susceptible species to be fed that type of product, even if it's reconstituted.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

You said that a good percentage of the food we consume in Canada comes from other countries. You mentioned a maximum residue criteria. What does that actually mean? Does that mean the maximum residue criteria we are certified to use in Canada is on the product, or is there an extension that there's a maximum residue criteria on products that are not certified by our industry to use in Canada?

[André Gravel]

The maximum residue limits are standards that Health Canada is developing related to pesticides, antibiotics, heavy metals, and those types of contaminants. They apply to a product that is imported or produced in Canada. So an apple coming from New Zealand or elsewhere, for example, would be tested for pesticides, and the limit for certain pesticides in the food and drugs regulations would be applied.

If it contained a pesticide that was not allowed in Canada, it would not be approved. If it contained a pesticide that was allowed in Canada but exceeded the maximum residue limit, that product would not be allowed either.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

So what you're clarifying for me, then, and that's what I'm trying to get a handle on, is that there is not any product that comes into Canada, of a food or a grain that is imported into Canada, that has been applied with a spray or a product that is not certified in Canada.

[André Gravel]

Really, I cannot provide the committee with that level of assurance. What I can tell you is that we're going to be testing for all these products, and if we find them, we'll reject them, but we're not testing, obviously, every shipment of every food product that's coming to Canada.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

I'm gathering from that then that actually there is product that comes in on which sprays or pesticides have been used that are different from the products that are certified for us as producers in Canada. Would that be a true statement?

[André Gravel]

It may be, but if we find out, we'll remove it.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Okay. Then, to do that, you say that you inspect a lot. How much is a lot? Is it 1%, 10%, or 50%?

[André Gravel]

Well, in some cases it's 100%. In the case of meat products, as an example, every animal that is slaughtered in Canada is seen by one of our inspectors or one of our veterinarians.

In the case of canned tuna, it's about 5%. It varies depending on the commodity we're talking about, and it's done on the basis of relative risk of that commodity representing a threat to human or animal health.

[Bev Shipley, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Do you know what our inspection rate is in percentage terms in comparison to our largest exporting nation, the United States?

[André Gravel]

I think it's pretty well parallel in terms of what we do for the majority of commodities. Our approach is based on international standards and so is the States.

If you have a very specific question about a given commodity, we can look at it, but generally speaking we're about the same.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Thank you, Mr. Shipley.

Mr. Atamanenko.

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

I'll go back to pet food.

If I understood correctly, Dr. Gravel, you mentioned that CFIA is now exploring the possibility of introducing some regulation in the area of pet food.

I would like to know what the timeline might be on that. If that in fact is happening, would this be similar to how you control livestock food, and if that's the case, how is this done? How is the inspection done, and would we then see a parallel process for a bag of dog food as opposed to a bag of horse food?

[André Gravel]

Mr. Chairman, the honourable member is way ahead of the agency in terms of his thinking. The agency is at the stage of looking at some options in terms of looking at how we could be potentially controlling pet food.

Some of these options involve the agency delivering pet food regulations. Some options would involve a third party delivering inspection on our behalf within the regulatory framework established by the agency.

We're not yet at the point of saying this is how it's going to be done and it's going to be equivalent to animal feed or not. We're at the very early stages. In terms of timeframe, I would rather not put a date on the table because it's too early.

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Just out of curiosity, how do you regulate the livestock food that comes into the country? How is that done?

[André Gravel]

The feed is regulated by the agency in the same way as other commodities, on the basis of establishing whether a country is meeting our regulatory requirements or not. We look at the country itself and determine whether on the basis of its animal disease status what type of product it can ship, and then for the majority of feed shipments that are coming to Canada, an import permit is required. Then we decide whether we're going to be inspecting that or skipping it and inspecting the next one. It's on the basis of relative risk.

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Thank you.

In regard to BSE, this case that has been discovered in a dairy in British Columbia, what happens now? In whatever happens, does this put into jeopardy the fact that we're trying to open up the border over 30 months? Does that push us back? Are we still continuing? I'm just very curious as to the whole process now that we've found one.

[André Gravel]

Dr. Evans, please.

[Dr. Brian Evans]

Thank you.

As has been indicated in previous statements by Dr. Gravel, it is fully anticipated that our surveillance system will continue to find singleton animals as we move towards eradication. The restoration of our market access is based on that recognition by other countries who have come to Canada, audited and assessed our system, and looked at the controls from a feed and traceability perspective. To this point in time, with specific reference to the most recent scenario, which was confirmed yesterday, there has been no movement at the international level whatsoever. The international community, not unanimously but progressively, is coming to the realization that with the measures already in place, the finding of these animals has no impact on the safety of our products for certification in accordance with international standards. We would prefer it was unanimous, but it's not.

Internationally, we are seeing movement away from a knee-jerk response to the finding of another case of BSE. Because of the long incubation period of the disease--on average four to seven years--to this point in time all the animals detected in Canada were born prior to 2002. We've had no animals born in the last five years, based on our surveillance system. The international community is looking at saying you can continue to find those animals that were already out there; we want to be assured that the robust and vigilant nature of your measures are in fact continuing to manage that at the effective level so you can meet your international certification obligations. As I say, we've not had any reports from any of our posts abroad or any of our trading partners that the finding of this case in any way has changed their thinking about the credible efforts that Canada has made and the transparency it has brought to the international community.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Bezan]

Thank you.

Your time has expired, Mr. Atamanenko.

Mr. Rodriguez.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Good afternoon everyone.

Of course, I have a question, André. I always have questions. How are you?

What is the point of origin of the majority of our imports of food commodities? For example, what percentage of these commodities comes from the U.S., the Americas, Asia and Europe?

[André Gravel]

The relative percentage of imports?