Overhaul is complete
Jan 15, 2019
TORONTO, CANADA -- Initiated in November 2012, the Safe Foods for Canadians Regulations (SFCRegs) comes into force today marking the biggest change to Canada’s food regulations in the past 25 years.
Canada’s national regulatory body, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) proposed the creation of the new regulations to strengthen Canada’s food safety system through consistent requirements for all foods that are imported, exported, and traded inter-provincially.
The new regulations consolidate 14 food commodity-based regulations into one outcome-based food regulation that aligns with the modernization of food safety practices of most of Canada’s primary trading partners. The United States has a very similar food safety system, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).
Under the new regulations, all food companies are required to have: 1) a CFIA licence, 2) a written and implemented food safety preventative plan, and 3) a traceability plan.
One of the changes is that organic certification will no longer be required for storage and distribution activities, and is limited to packaging and labelling.
Some of the requirements are being phased in over the next 12 to 30 months. Go here for more information on timelines, and here for CFIA tools designed to help navigate the new process.
“USA Rice has been following the Canadian food safety process closely and analyzed the SFCRegs in context for the U.S. rice sector,” said Sarah Moran, USA Rice vice president international. “I would be happy to share that information any of our members who have questions about the new regulations and how they pertain to the U.S. rice industry.