Fisheries Committee on Feb. 10th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

I now call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number six of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted on January 18, 2022, the committee is meeting on its study of the traceability of fish and seafood products.

This meeting is taking place in a hybrid format pursuant to the House order of November 25, 2021. Proceedings are available via the House of Commons website. The webcast shows the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.

Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of either floor, English or French audio. Please inform me immediately if interpretation is lost, and we'll ensure it is restored before resuming the meeting.

The “raise hand” feature at the bottom of the screen can be used if you wish to speak or to alert the chair. If you're in the room, wave, shout or do something to get my attention. Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. For those who are here by video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute yourself before speaking. When you are not speaking, your mike should be on mute. I will remind you that all comments by members and witnesses should be addressed through the chair.

I now would like to welcome our witnesses for today.

From the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, we have Mr. Adam Burns—no stranger to this particular committee—senior director, Pacific salmon strategy initiative, Pacific region. From the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, we have Tammy Switucha, executive director, food safety and consumer protection directorate, and Kathy Twardek, senior director, food program integration division.

Before I go to the witnesses' opening statements, I will remind members that when you're asking a question, it's much easier if you identify who the question is for. I did say that at the last meeting. Sometimes a question gets asked and everybody just kind of stares into space, wondering who the question was headed for. Perhaps you could keep that in mind.

As well, I now see that Dr. Hedy Fry has joined us. She is subbing in for Mr. Cormier.

As for our witnesses, we will now go to—

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Tina Miller]

I'm sorry, Mr. Chair, but Mr. Arnold has his hand raised.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Go ahead, Mr. Arnold.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

I have just a quick question, Mr. Chair. I believe you mentioned that Mr. Adam Burns has a role with the Pacific salmon strategic initiative. Could you repeat that? It's not in the notice of meeting we received.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Okay. We have Adam Burns, senior director, Pacific salmon strategy initiative, Pacific region. That's the information I have.

I see that Mr. Burns has his hand up to respond. Maybe it's wrong here.

[Adam Burns, Director General, Fisheries and Resources Management, Department of Fisheries and Oceans]

Unfortunately, Chair, you were provided the wrong information. I apologize. I'm the director general of fisheries resource management and based at national headquarters in Ottawa.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you for that clarification, Mr. Burns.

Now we'll go to our presentations by witnesses, for five minutes each, or less.

I believe, Mr. Burns, that you will go first.

[Adam Burns]

Thanks, Chair.

I'm here to speak at the committee's request in relation to the catch certification office and the functions that DFO serves in that manner.

The Canadian seafood industry has undergone significant developments in the area of traceability over recent years. Much of this development has been largely driven by various market access requirements, many in the form of barriers to trade resulting from requirements of other countries. Other incentives that have led to developments in this area are purely consumer- and market-driven, such as eco-labelling.

The Department of Fisheries and Ocean's catch certification program is an example of how Canada has adapted to respond to ever‑evolving market access requirements, which require components of product traceability from Canadian seafood export products.

In 2009, the European Union introduced a new regulation that established market access measures as a means to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated—or IUU—fishing. The first regulation of its kind, the EU IUU regulation, requires all exporting countries of fish and seafood product to provide, on a consignment basis, catch certificates that attest to the legality of the products as determined by the competent authority, which is the authority of the flag state that manages and enables harvest activities.

The EU's catch certification scheme is intended to improve the traceability of most fish and seafood products destined for EU markets, at all stages of the production chain. The catch certification program was created in 2010 to position the Canadian industry to be able to respond to international rules such as the EU IUU regulation, and to support Canada's role in preventing, deterring and eliminating IUU fishing.

Concern for the environment has translated into requirements for evidence, through product traceability along the entire value chain, that fish and seafood are caught legally and in an environmentally sustainable manner. The onus of this proof, with supporting evidence, is now on the exporting fish and seafood industry and the government departments that regulate and enable their activities.

DFO's catch certification program has, since 2010, responded to multiple other international requirements for catch certification, and they currently provide certification for exports destined to the EU, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Japan and Chile. They are preparing for implementation of catch certification requirements for additional export markets.

It is important to note that industry participation in the catch certification program is voluntary and market driven, which means that entire sectors of the Canadian fish and seafood industry have not participated in this program. The program gives certification only to fisheries products for which it is required, based on foreign requirements, and to date this includes only products derived from marine wild-capture fisheries. Having fisheries products certified by DFO is not required under Canadian legislation, but companies choose to participate in the certification process based on which markets they are targeting for their product.

The catch certification program does not provide any level of validation or verification for foreign-sourced product that is imported into Canada. For product that was imported into Canada and subsequently re‑exported, Canadian importers must receive product certification from the country of origin for the product. The program can then issue the required re‑export certificate which links the product moving through the Canadian supply chain to the certificate from the country of origin.

While DFO has developed the tools necessary for Canadian industry to obtain electronic certification for their export product, DFO does not prescribe the mechanisms by which industry physically track the product while it is in their custody. Industry must remain proactive in developing and maintaining their own tracking systems to allow them to accurately identify and differentiate between batches of product, and, using this tracking system, accurately report in the fisheries certificate system from where the product was received and to whom it will be sold.

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Burns. There's a bit of time left, which is always appreciated.

We now go to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. I believe Tammy Switucha is going to speak on behalf of that group.

[Tammy Switucha, Executive Director, Food Safety and Consumer Protection Directorate, Canadian Food Inspection Agency]

Good morning, Mr. Chair.

I appreciate the opportunity to speak with committee members today on seafood traceability.

My name is Tammy Switucha and I'm the executive director in the policy and programs branch at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Before I begin, I'd like to acknowledge that I am addressing you from Ottawa on the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin nation.

I will address the committee in English, but I invite members to raise their questions or share their comments in the official language of their choice.

I have my colleague Kathy Twardek here with me today. She is the acting director in the policy and programs branch.

Mr. Chair, today I'm going to provide an overview of seafood traceability in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's regulatory framework and tell you about the agency's work to prevent fish mislabelling and the ongoing work with respect to the Minister of Health's 2019 mandate commitment for boat-to-plate traceability.

Canada is recognized as having one of the best food safety systems in the world and has implemented robust food safety traceability requirements under the safe food for Canadians regulations, or SFCR, which came into force on January 15, 2019.

Traceability requirements under SFCR support food safety in Canada and apply to businesses, including fish and seafood processors that import, export or trade within Canada. These requirements are consistent with standards set by the international food standard-setting body, Codex Alimentarius.

There are two main components to traceability: document and labelling requirements. The SFCR requires food businesses that import, export or trade within Canada to keep records that allow food to be traced—one step back and one step forward—to the point of retail. This enables faster removal of unsafe food from the market during a food safety investigation, a recall and fraud-related investigations.

For labelling, most consumer prepackaged foods in Canada, including seafood products, must have a label with information necessary for public health or consumer protection, such as the common name, name and place of business, and lot code or unique identifier. Companies can also voluntarily add information to the label, such as the scientific name, the location of the catch or the type of fishing gear used. All information must be truthful and not misleading.

There is growing global attention on seafood mislabelling and misrepresentation. Food safety and consumer protection are Government of Canada priorities, and I'd like to share how CFIA works to protect the health and safety of Canadians when it comes to seafood misrepresentation.

CFIA verifies labelling and species authenticity of fish products as part of its regular compliance monitoring and inspection activities. Additionally, budget 2019 introduced a food policy for Canada that included an investment of $24.4 million over five years for the CFIA to expand its capacity to detect and take action against food fraud.

As part of the food fraud initiative, in 2019-20 CFIA prioritized and carried out inspections targeting fish mislabelling and substitution. CFIA sampled and tested fish using DNA analysis collected at retail stores and at manufacturers and importers, and found that 92% of the samples were correctly labelled. The CFIA took appropriate action on all unsatisfactory results.

It's important to note that compliance is ultimately the responsibility of companies. To promote compliance, CFIA works with industry and provides various compliance tools, such as the CFIA fish list, which links fish species to common names, and the industry labelling tool.

Mr. Chair, I'd like to talk about the boat-to-plate traceability for fish and seafood, which was included in the Minister of Health's mandate letter in 2019. CFIA is leading this work in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. To date, CFIA, DFO and AAFC have engaged extensively with stakeholders to gather information and perspectives related to seafood traceability and labelling in Canada.

An online 120-day consultation was launched in August 2021 to seek the views of stakeholders on various aspects of boat-to-plate traceability. Feedback has been received from respondents, and the analysis is currently under way. The CFIA will publish a “what we heard” report this spring.

In conclusion, Canada has a robust regulatory foundation and inspection system that supports food safety and consumer protection. The CFIA values engagement and collaboration to continuously improve and address issues related to seafood tracing and mislabelling.

Once again, I thank you for this opportunity and look forward to your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you for that.

We'll now go to our first round of questioning, for six minutes or less.

Mr. Perkins, go ahead, please.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Thank you, witnesses, for being the leadoff for this important study.

In 2019, the executive director of the food safety and consumer protection directorate of CFIA, in speaking to the safe food for Canadians regulation, said that we require all businesses, including importers, to be licensed, to have traceability records in place and to have a preventative control program, and that this is how businesses are ensuring that their labels are truthful and not misleading.

You also said in your testimony that in your audits, you have found that 92% of the food labelling in seafood is correct.

I made my weekly trip to the grocery store to look at what is on some of the seafood that's available in the store. I'd like your opinion on some of these. I can share with the committee, if you want, the photos of some of the products at the appropriate time.

I'd like you to please define for me what “organic Atlantic salmon” means.

[Tammy Switucha]

Mr. Chair, not seeing the actual label itself, I will try my best to provide the answer.

In Canada the safe food for Canadian regulations require that most prepackaged food be labelled with specific information to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions. This is consistent across all foods. They have to include the common name of the food, ingredients, nutrition information, best before date, net quantity and the company name and address. Other labels, such as “organic” and other such claims, are applied on a voluntary basis.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I appreciate that. I'm sorry but I have limited time.

I'll ask you about a couple more definitions. I guess we don't know what that is; that's a definition created by the company and not by the government.

How about “Pacific salmon prepared in Canada”?

[Tammy Switucha]

Food must be labelled with the origin of the food. That's required in our regulation. The use of the word “Pacific” and other denominators or originators like that is, of course, voluntary and not prescribed within our regulations.

That information can be applied, as long as it's truthful and not misleading.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

The Pacific's a big ocean, so what you're telling us is that we're not sure where it's coming from.

“Haddock made in Canada from domestic and imported products”: I don't know how you make haddock from domestic and imported products, but I wonder if you could clarify that labelling.

[Tammy Switucha]

Unfortunately, I don't have access to the product that you're referring to. It's difficult for me to answer that question.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

This took me about 10 minutes at the grocery store, so I presume the inspections, which you said were 92% accurate, would have looked at some of these things.

With respect to shrimp rings, we all know they are very popular. A lot of people get them. There are a lot of different brands of them in the grocery store. One of the most famous brands that we know at a big store here is labelled “product of Vietnam”. What does “product of Vietnam” mean? Is it caught, processed, shipped? What is it? What does “product of Vietnam” mean?

[Tammy Switucha]

The requirement with respect to country-of-origin labelling is that a product be labelled as coming from the country in which the food has undergone the last substantial processing step that has changed the nature of the food. This is consistent with the international standards set by Codex Alimentarius.

Most foods in Canada must have a country-of-origin claim on them if they are imported, so not seeing that product—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

I'm sorry. I have only limited time.

“Product of Vietnam” doesn't tell me where it was caught or where it was processed, so you can see why consumers are confused. Obviously, if we're trying to strive to meet only international standards, we're not actually protecting our consumers and doing what's right.

You mentioned in your testimony that we cover only “one step back and one step forward”. That doesn't seem like ocean-to-plate traceability. Can you tell me why we don't know more than “one step back” what we're receiving when something arrives in Canada and what Canadians are eating?

[Tammy Switucha]

The rules around traceability pertain to food safety and not necessarily the method or location of the catch. The traceability requirements in the safe food for Canadians regulations were quite clear that each exchange of product, of food, along the supply chain must keep documentation records as to who received the food and where the food came from.

While we don't prescribe how that's done, we know from experience at the CFIA and in our verification of industry's compliance with traceability that these records are very closely tied along the supply chain, up until retail.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

The answer is that, no, you don't know what any of the department—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ken McDonald]

Thank you, Mr. Perkins. Your time is up.

I have a just a quick reminder for those in the room who are asking questions. Be sure your mike is off before a witness or anybody else tries to respond.

As someone who is doing this “hybridly”, I'm getting a lot of feedback as well if I key up my mike and there are two mikes on in the room. Try to be a little more conscious of that, please. It will make for a much smoother meeting.

We'll now go to Mr. Morrissey for six minutes or less, please.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

My questions are directed to the CFIA. Either one of you can answer. I want to follow up on the line of questioning from Mr. Perkins.

Under your notes, you state that “CFIA verifies labelling and species authenticity of fish products”. Going to the case of the product Mr. Perkins identified, how would that have been labelled by CFIA without knowing exactly what the origin of the product was? The reference was to “haddock” and then something else that may be in it. How would a label like that be approved in Canada?

[Tammy Switucha]

I believe you indicated how CFIA would label the product. It's up to the company responsible for producing or selling that product to make sure that—