Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I appreciate the invitation to participate in this study and the opportunity to explain CFIA's role in the context of protecting the Canadian forestry sector from the spread of forest pests.
The CFIA is a science-based regulatory agency. Our business stems from a very broad mandate that encompasses food safety, animal health, plant protection and market access. Sine 1997, the CFIA has enforced Canada's federal plant health, animal health and food safety regulations, and has upheld the country's food safety standards. The CFIA is responsible for and has a mandate to protect Canadian plant resources and the environment from invasive foreign pests that can destroy our forests and crops.
Today, the CFIA faces many challenges affecting our work, such as climate change, increased volume and pace of trade, and a very diverse range of non-native quarantine pests that threaten our forests, agricultural crops and our environment.
The most effective way to deal with growing pest threats is to focus on preventing the entry of these foreign pests. Once they are established in Canada, they're extremely difficult. It is a real challenge to stop their progression, and it is very costly to manage these pests.
Since 1990, we've only had two successful eradication attempts. We succeeded in eradicating the Asian gypsy moth in Vancouver in the early 1990s, and more recently the Asian long-horned beetle in Toronto and Vaughan.
Pests have a devastating impact on our economy, on our farmers and exporters, but there's more at stake than dollars and cents. There are potential impacts on our environment and production, as well as public and market confidence in our control systems. That's why the CFIA is focusing on a strong preventive approach.
I'm aware the committee would like to explore how to prevent the spread of native pests such as the mountain pine beetle and the spruce budworm. This is why I need to clarify that the CFIA is responsible for administering Canada's Plant Protection Act and regulations to prevent the entry, establishment and spread of quarantine plant pests.
This includes invasive alien forest pests such as the Asian gypsy moth, oak wilt disease, the Asian long-horned beetle, the brown spruce longhorn beetle and the emerald ash borer. We focus on quarantine pests that are new regulated pests and are not yet established.
Let me explain further. A newly identified plant pest is regulated following a pest risk assessment where it is determined that impacts are significant to natural or urban forests or production crops, such as maple trees or apple trees. A plant pest is regulated when the pest is not already established here: It is either absent from Canada or of limited occurrence in Canada and under official control, such as with the Asian long-horned beetle and the emerald ash borer.
So how do we take a preventive approach? We use our inspection skills and scientific knowledge to check potential pathways that the pests could be using to come here.
Plant pests are notorious hitchhikers. Pests are not restricted to agricultural and forest commodities. They have been found on everything from car parts to furniture and decorations. That's why the CFIA monitors and inspects regulated pathways, such as plants or plant products, which include logs, lumber, woodchips, bark, wood packaging materials, firewood and nursery stock. Some conveyances are also regulated, such as ships, railcars and shipping containers. For example, we inspect marine ships from Asia to prevent the entry of the Asian gypsy moth.
These programs are designed based on the nature of the pest incursion, the availability of management tools and the likelihood of success. The responses can range from eradication or slowing the spread to alternatives to regulation—including traditional pest control, such as using pesticides.
In addition to inspection, we have management programs in place. For example, the Asian long-horned beetle falls under a containment and eradication program, whereas the emerald ash borer falls under a "slow the spread" program. We apply a "slow the spread" management to the emerald ash borer to allow time for development of alternative long-term management tools, such as biocontrol agents or more pest-resistant trees.
Management options vary depending on the pest biology and distribution, the pathway, and the availability of detection and response tools such as survey methods, recommended pest treatments, and so forth.
I might add that these pests can be and are unpredictable. A certain pest may behave differently than expected, meaning that the response may need to vary depending on whether the pest is found in an urban setting versus a natural forest or a farm.
I mentioned the emerald ash borer. The CFIA is currently applying a “slow the spread” management strategy, which includes keeping people from moving firewood and ash logs over long distances from defined emerald ash borer regulated areas.
We also play an education role, collaborating with partners on outreach and awareness programs, such as our annual Don't Move Firewood campaign.
Mr. Chairman, you may have heard very recently that the CFIA has confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer in Bedford, Nova Scotia. This finding was outside the current areas regulated for the emerald ash borer in Canada. Effective immediately, the movement of all ash materials such as logs, branches, woodchips, and all species of firewood from the affected site is restricted. Property owners in the affected area have been notified of these restrictions.
As mentioned by my colleagues from CFS, we cannot do this work alone. At the CFIA, we value our partners and work closely with other federal departments, the provinces, territories, municipalities, academia and industry.
We have been collaborating with CFS to develop a risk management decision framework. This model provides guidance on plant pest response approaches based on science—biology, socio-economics and environment—and risk management principles that are derived from international plant protection standards.
In addition, the CFIA has entered into formal and informal partnerships with various stakeholders, such as other federal departments, provincial governments, first nations, municipal governments, industry, non-governmental organizations and international entities to deliver on our mandate. These partnerships deal with regulated pests.
The CFIA has also entered into memoranda of understanding with several provinces—I believe British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario—to collaborate on the management of introduced invasive alien forest pests. This includes conducting surveys and working on response programs together.
With respect to the mountain pine beetle and the spruce budworm, our partners have mandates as well. The provinces have the mandate for forest health, including the management of native forest pests like the mountain pine beetle and the spruce budworm.
As I mentioned earlier, our approach focuses on the prevention of the introduction of foreign pests into Canada. On the international front, the CFIA is Canada's representative to the International Plant Protection Convention, or IPPC. We work with our partners and stakeholders to promote the development of international plant health standards and support their acceptance and implementation globally.
Adherence to these standards by our partners reduces the likelihood of introducing a foreign pest. For example, wood packaging material used in global trade of goods has been identified as a major pathway for introducing pests. Canada has been a global leader in the development of global acceptance and implementation of an international plant health standard that requires wood packaging material to be composed of heat-treated material, such as kiln dried wood.
To summarize, as the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Once again, I appreciate the opportunity to explain CFIA's role regarding this important subject.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
