Evidence of meeting #3 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cfia.
A recording is available from Parliament.
November 21st, 2007 / 4:45 p.m.
Cameron Prince Vice-President, Operations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
That number, 630, is for veterinarians employed by CFIA.
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Conservative
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Vice-President, Operations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Basically that's the case. There are two.... Some of them are permanent; some of them are term, so they'd be hired for a year.
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Do you contract other veterinarians as well?
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Vice-President, Operations, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
We do on occasion. When veterinarians in charge of isolated plants go on holidays, we have retired CFIA veterinarians who are available to come in to work.
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Actually, a minimum of 600 veterinarians are on staff at CFIA working full time, basically.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Okay.
Mr. Chair, I might be sharing my time with my colleague Mr. Miller, if I get some quick answers.
My constituents, especially my agricultural people, say that we really produce a great quality of food--probably the safest food in the world. Is that a fair statement?
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Executive Vice-President and Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
That statement is an accurate reflection of the commitment from the producer through the processor to the retailer and through the government oversight. It is an accurate statement that Canada has made the investments and that our food is second to none.
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
The next comment they usually make is that the problem is that imported food does not have to meet the same standards our food does.
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Executive Vice-President and Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Again, I might ask Paul Mayers to assist on this one.
Any food entering into the marketplace in Canada has to meet the same standards, whether it's imported into Canada or produced here. Under the Food and Drugs Act it is an offence to introduce non-wholesome food, whether it's domestically produced or imported food.
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
If beef were coming from another country, would the SRMs have to be treated the same way as our SRMs?
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Executive Vice-President and Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Yes. In effect, the SRM requirements have to be removed for beef to come into Canada from countries that are in the same categorization of health status for BSE as we are.
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
So I can go back to my constituents to say that you are producing food on a level playing field and that the imported food is meeting exactly the same standards as the domestic product?
4:50 p.m.
Executive Vice-President and Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
As far as the health and food safety standards, the requirement is that we enforce those same standards on imported product as we do on domestic. Now, the overhead costs to the sector could be borne by what the overhead costs are in the country to produce that food, and that could be different.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Maybe what I should do is just turn it over to my colleague here, Mr. Miller. He has a pressing question that he has to ask.
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Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
He doesn't really. I do have some questions, but....
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
Why has he been poking me in the back, then?
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Conservative
Larry Miller Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
Well, I was just going to ask a follow-up.
I'd just like you to clarify this, Mr. Evans. You seemed to imply there, when Mr. Lauzon added...that any food coming in, yes, it did, but you categorized that by saying if they're under the same BSE stipulation.
I guess the question is that American beef coming in obviously does not come under the same SRM standards as ours. Is that not correct?
4:50 p.m.
Executive Vice-President and Chief Veterinary Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency
No, in effect, for the meat to be imported for human consumption, it has to meet the same standards. They have adopted, as far as human food, the same SRM removal policies in all animals slaughtered in the United States. They remove the same SRMs from those animals at slaughter as we do in Canada.
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Conservative
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Conservative
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Conservative
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Conservative
Guy Lauzon Conservative Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON
I'm a new member on the committee.
Actually, in your report you mention facility inspections, that Canadian facility inspections have to be inspected annually. The audits are annual. The Canadian importers are done a minimum of every three years, the American manufacturers every three years, and other non-Canadian manufacturers a minimum of every four years.
There's quite a discrepancy there. Who are the others?
