There are likely few sentences that strike fear in the hearts of livestock producers quite like, “The CFIA called. They’re coming for a meeting.” That’s exactly what happened here last week, and, admittedly, my first inclination was to freak out. Fearing the worst (an audit on two days notice is the stuff of nightmares), I… Read More
Update, June 29: The CFIA has published its incident report on the discovery of unapproved GM wheat plants in southern Alberta. The agency says it determined it was an isolated case, with no wheat entering the food or feed system, but that it was unable to determine where it came from: “The CFIA in cooperation with… Read More
Update: The CFIA has confirmed the discovery of several GM wheat plants in southern Alberta. Here’s the updated story. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will be holding a technical briefing this afternoon to provide information on a case of an unapproved biotech plant product being found in Alberta. The agency describes it as “an… Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is one of the cornerstones of food safety in Canada. Federal inspectors monitor meat and food processing plants, feed mills, and even farms. But beyond what we tend to hear in the media about inspections, the CFIA has much larger responsibilities, some of which need to be separated from… Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has proposed changes to the rules for the transportation of animals. Discussions about changes to the transport regulations, most of which have been in place since 1977, have been ongoing for a number of years. The draft amendments were finally published in Canada Gazette on December 3 (read the entire proposal here.) The… Read More
$16.7 million has been set aside for an AgriRecovery program to help cattle producers in Alberta affected by the bovine TB quarantine. While Alberta’s Treasury Board has yet to approve the funding, federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced the dollar figure in the House of Commons on Wednesday. The “2016 Bovine Tuberculosis Assistance Initiative” will provide… Read More
The scope of the bovine TB investigation centred in southeast Alberta continues to grow. Here’s what we know so far: As of Monday, over 22,000 head of cattle are now quarantined on around 40 premises. Most of the 40 quarantined locations are in Alberta, with no more than five in Saskatchewan. The number of premises linked to… Read More
With the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) tuberculosis investigation ongoing and no clearly-defined ending in sight, concern is rising for the ranches involved. Currently, compensation only exists if animals need to be destroyed. At the Agriculture Committee meeting in Ottawa this week, it was made very clear that the status quo is going to leave… Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it expects the investigation following the case of bovine tuberculosis in southeast Alberta will take several months to complete. Around 30 farms have been quarantined following the discovery of bovine TB by U.S. officials in an animal originating from a ranch in the southeast part of the province in… Read More
Update on July 30th: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency removed the final Avian Influenza Control Zone (located in the counties of Oxford and Waterloo) after lifting the quarantine on the second Ontario farm on Wednesday, July 29th. Permits are no longer required for the movement of birds and bird products in Ontario. A three month surveillance… Read More
Now that Verticillium longisporum has been found in Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is working on getting a handle on the distribution of the new disease threat to canola. The verticillium wilt pathogen, which has caused significant economic losses in Europe’s rapeseed crop, was found in a canola trial plot at an undisclosed research location in… Read More
Updated April 28, 2015: CFIA confirms that the third farm is infected with the highly pathogenic H5N2 strain. Humane depopulation of the premises was concluded April 26. A turkey farm in Oxford County has been named as “presumed” positive for H5 avian influenza, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The 8,000 head turkey… Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed the avian influenza virus found in a turkey flock near Woodstock, Ontario is the same subtype identified in British Columbia in December and in several states in the US Midwest over the last month. “The CFIA’s testing at the National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases has confirmed the strain responsible for… Read More
The head of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is accusing the union that represents food inspectors of “unnecessarily undermining Canadians’ confidence in their food safety system.” The Agriculture Union issued a news release this week saying cost-cutting within the CFIA is creating an inspector shortage that is putting Canadians’ health at risk. As an example, the union says… Read More
The recent case of a BSE-positive cow found in Alberta has been traced back to a birth farm that produced another positive BSE case in 2010. In the case of that cow, the 17th detected in Canada, the animal was born in 2004, three years before the enhanced feed ban came into effect. The Canadian… Read More