The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is set to make seven regulatory changes to cut red tape around agricultural production.
Federal Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald says the package of regulatory changes is about building a regulatory environment that reflects and responds to the realities of today’s agriculture sector.
The changes to the Health of Animals Regulations and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations fall into three categories: removing overly prescriptive requirements; increasing flexibility and speed; and levelling the playing field for the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector.
Industries of greatest impact are fruit and vegetable, and livestock — mainly poultry and veal.
Changes to livestock regulation are:
Increased efficiency and ease in updating animal import rules to align with international standards or new science, and updated import requirements for veal to give more flexibility.
