Thank you, members of the committee, for the opportunity to be here today.
The Canadian Sheep Federation is a national non-profit organization that represents over 11,000 Canadian sheep producers. It has eight provincial members and three associate members: the Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers, the Canadian Sheep Breeders' Association, and the Canadian National Goat Federation. The Canadian Sheep Federation plays a key role in the development, implementation, and management of programs that enable the industry to remain competitive, innovative, and responsive, such as the voluntary scrapie flock certification program, the bluetongue insurance program, the Canadian sheep identification program, and the food safe farm practices program.
Food safe farm practices is a national HACCP-based program that the industry began working on in 1997. The development of this program was truly a collaborative initiative, with representatives from both federal and provincial governments, member associations, and producers working together. In 2005, the program received technical recognition from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. This producer-driven program examines all areas of production and outlines management options that are designed to minimize food safety risks. It is based on "must do" good production practices. Good production practices are operating procedures that promote food safety and production efficiency. The program also makes recommendations on practices geared to facilitating the production of a safe, high-quality product.
To date, the CSF has provided training to over 1,000 producers, either through workshops or through online training. In addition to training producers, the federation is working towards technical recognition for its management manual. Canadian sheep producers understand the importance of, and are committed to, supplying safe, high-quality lamb. The food safe farm practices program is just one program that they have access to. They also participate in the Canadian sheep identification program and various health programs that contribute to the safety and quality of their product. Together, these programs allow producers to anticipate problems, develop troubleshooting techniques, and reduce on-farm risks to food safety. The food safe farm practices program, in particular, allows producers to prove that they are doing what they can to minimize food safety risks.
One of the challenges the industry has with the food safe farm practices program is the producer's ability to recoup the additional costs of implementation. There needs to be some incentive for producers to participate. In the best-case scenario, producers will be implementing the program in response to market incentives under which they get paid a premium for the added assurance that they have been certified by a food safety program.
Especially in the lamb industry, where so much of the lamb being consumed is imported, there is a real need to ensure that the programs producers participate in do not put them at a competitive disadvantage. It is the issue of competitiveness that may cause some producers to hesitate when being asked to implement the program. One way to ensure that Canadian lamb producers remain competitive is to require imported products to meet the same standards that Canadian producers must meet.
Work also needs to be done to harmonize meat processing codes in Canada into a single standard. Currently, it is difficult for Canadian lamb producers to access some Canadian markets. With 60% of Canadian lambs being processed in Ontario—90% are processed in provincially inspected plants—it's difficult for Canadian producers to have access to, let alone compete in, markets such as British Columbia, which is Canada's second largest lamb-consuming market.
Producers must also be price competitive. The food safe farm practices program has the potential to increase production costs for lamb producers, and they have limited options for cost recovery. This could cause the program to be too costly to implement, or it could drive up the cost of Canadian lamb, making the imported product more attractive to consumers. Both scenarios are troubling. In both cases, there is the potential to lose Canadian producers and there is limited ability to ensure that Canadian consumers have access to high-quality, safe product, especially when the imported product does not have to meet the same standards as the Canadian product does. Food safety is not just the responsibility of Canadian producers.
If we are going to continue to deliver the safe, high-quality food that Canadian consumers have come to expect, then a collaborative approach, which includes producers, processors, retailers, consumers, and government, is required. With such an approach, the cost of ensuring the supply of safe, high-quality food is shared.
To date, the industry and government have enjoyed a collaborative approach to on-farm food safety. Both recognize the need for on-farm food safety programs, and while the government has provided some financial support, expertise, and guidance during the development, they have recognized that in order to be successful, food safety programs need to be developed and managed by industry in order to ensure that they are practical on farm and meet individual industry requirements.
Government support with development and training has been greatly appreciated. However, the issue now is program implementation, ensuring that producers are audited and that commodity organizations have the resources for ongoing maintenance of the program.
It should be noted that the costs of developing the on-farm food safety programs have not rested solely on the shoulders of government. One of the real benefits of this process has been the recognition of producer time as a contribution to the cost of development. Additionally, national and provincial organizations, which are funded through producer levies, have also contributed substantial amounts of time and money.
Canada's collaborative approach to on-farm food safety programs is also seen among the commodity groups. The commodity organizations that are currently working on their food safety programs sit together around the Canadian On-Farm Food Safety Working Group table, where they can discuss common challenges and share information. The capacity to do this has proven to be invaluable. It is vital that this collaborative approach to on-farm food safety continue. While Canadian lamb producers remain dedicated to the production of safe, high-quality product, the Canadian government must make this same commitment and ensure that Canadian producers remain competitive.
Thank you.