Through amendments to the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMP) regulations pursuant to the AMP Act, CFIA inspectors will be authorized to impose monetary penalties on operations that violate two key elements of Canada’s system of BSE safeguards: the BSE feed ban and requirements for the removal of specified risk materials from food products for humans. This will complement the monetary penalties that are already in place for failure to report suspected and actual cases of BSE.
“Canada employs a comprehensive suite of internationally-recognized, science-based measures to effectively minimize the likelihood of exposure, amplification, and spread of BSE within the cattle population and to protect consumers from the associated human health risks,” said Andy Mitchell, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. “The ability to issue monetary penalties will provide CFIA inspectors with an additional enforcement tool to respond to violations of the safeguards in a more timely, effective, and efficient manner.”
To date, enforcement tools available to the CFIA have been limited to warnings, seizure of products suspected of or known to be out of compliance, suspension or cancellation of permits, and prosecutions. The use of monetary penalties presents numerous benefits as an enforcement tool:
• It is more efficient and cost effective than enforcement options such as prosecution;
• It decriminalizes regulatory offenses by emphasizing compliance rather than punitive action;
• It provides for more immediate enforcement and corrective action; and
• It provides for the use of negotiated solutions to non-compliance for commercial violations.
The regulatory changes were published in the Canada Gazette Part II (http://canadagazette.gc.ca) on June 29 and went into effect on July 9, 2005. The amendments can also be viewed at the CFIA Web site at www.inspection.gc.ca (Acts and Regulations).
Changes were also made to Canada’s national cattle identification program that will further strengthen the ability of the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) to monitor the movement of cattle in Canada.
Included in the regulatory changes that went into effect June 29, 2005, is a requirement for cattle identification tag distributors to report all tag sales to the national database within 24 hours of the sale to the producer. Producers will also be required to report all tags from deadstock disposed of on the farm to the national CCIA database to ensure that the tag number is retired. Deadstock leaving the farm will also need to be identified and reported to the national database.
A number of previous exemptions have also been removed from the program. Producers will now be required to ensure all animals are tagged before they are moved to community pastures, fairs, or veterinary clinics. Auction barn owners will also now be responsible for ensuring that all lost tags on animals moving though their facilities are replaced.
The national cattle identification program is a critical component of the suite of measures that Canada has in place to protect human and animal health. This program assists the CFIA in monitoring the national herd and investigating diseases, such as the trace-out investigations of the North American cases of BSE diagnosed since 2003.
More information regarding all of the changes to the cattle identification program can be found by visiting the CFIA Web site.
August 2005 Render