Agriculture committee  As I mentioned earlier, the regulations were amended and published in Canada Gazette, part II, in 2019 to come into force in 2020. They reflect and reflected at the time the best available science, information and stakeholder feedback. As a regulatory authority and as a science

Agriculture committee  We are obviously following the bill as it moves through the process, and we will discuss implementation. The agency will work towards the full implementation of any new rules or laws that fall within its mandate.

Agriculture committee  Our expectation is that the transporter report to us injuries and mortalities, even if the plane was landing in another jurisdiction. We would have several opportunities. In addition, we have connections and communications with Japanese authorities, so there are a number of ways

Agriculture committee  Maybe it's worth pointing out what CFIA does at the airport. In this case, the CFIA at the airport ensures that animals are healthy, are fit to travel are not overcrowded and are compatible. We do a visual inspection to verify the horses can stand comfortably naturally and that

Agriculture committee  These animals have been raised together. They have been transported on trucks together. They're off-loaded, and as they're loaded into crates, the loading staff and the CFIA veterinarians and inspectors—who, as I have mentioned, are present—work together to ensure the regulatory

Agriculture committee  The regulations do require the transporter to report fatalities or significant injuries to the agency.

Agriculture committee  That's a very good question. The rules and regulations for the transport of horses by air—frankly, just the transport of horses—are not different depending on what the horse is going to be used for. The requirements for a horse to be transported to another country for the purpo

Agriculture committee  Some horses may be transported individually and some may be transported together. On the requirements of the regulations, for stocking density or space to avoid overcrowding, for example, our regulations refer to the International Air Transport Association live animal regulatio

Agriculture committee  I won't speak to the bill specifically. I will say that our rules ensure that animals are treated humanely while they're being transported. However, as part of the regulatory requirements, transporters are required to report to the agency when horse deaths or significant injuries

Agriculture committee  As I've said, the regulations were amended in 2019 to offer additional protections and measures to prevent avoidable suffering in animals that are being transported, including horses. There are provisions for air transport also. The regulations provide for adequate space and for

Agriculture committee  As we have reported forward-facing on our website, since 2013 there have been five fatalities out of the about 47,000 horses that have been exported. That's a mortality rate of about 0.011%. I'm not aware of other instances of significant injuries. The requirement for the regulat

Agriculture committee  The agency is a science-based organization. The regulations we have for humane transport under the Health of Animals Act and health of animals regulations oversee the export and transport of animals into, within and out of the country. The aim of those regulations is to ensure th

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. I'm very happy to appear before this committee as part of your study on Bill C-355. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulates horse exports under the Health of Animals Act and health of animals regulations. I would therefore like to describe the CFIA's

Agriculture committee  The flexibilities we show at CFIA under the humane transport regulations focus on unforeseen circumstances. A driver will understand where they are and where they're going, the number of hours and where the rest stations might be. They need to plan around those elements. I'll say

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the question. We developed the humane transport regulations based on the best available science and from an incredible amount of literature, information and evidence. We determined that the feed, water and rest prescriptive times in regulation