New Canadian destination inspection service takes root
New Canadian destination inspection service takes root
After nearly six years of hard work, the Canadian produce industry has finally begun implementing changes to its Destination Inspection Service.
"Over the last several years, the industry here in Canada has been working very closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to find ways and means of improving the service of destination inspection," said Wayne Morris, a consultant working for the Fresh Produce Alliance on its destination inspection service initiative, one of eight initiatives that the alliance -- a collaborative undertaking of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, the Canadian Horticultural Council and the Dispute Resolution Corp. tasked with building an improved business environment for the fresh produce industry -- is currently working on.
"We looked at a number of options and narrowed it down to one particular business model and fortunately for the industry the CFIA agreed to pursue that model and put it into place," said Mr. Morris.
The new service, which went into effect April 1, was the beginning of what Mr. Morris said was a "three year phase-in period that ultimately will get a new organization up to the point that it will address all of industry's desires that they had identified a number of years ago that was necessary to meet the expectation's of industry clients. What the CFIA has done is agree to improve service by creating a new entity within itself to have dedicated resources for this service, which is a really positive move."
According to a press release on the CPMA's web site, "new fees will only take effect once proposed changes to the regulations are approved. In the meantime, fees will remain the same and will continue to be charged according to the current fee schedule. All non-destination inspection services such as export inspections, customs clearance, licensing and arbitration, packaging and labeling and food safety will continue to be delivered by regular CFIA staff."
When asked how the new fees would be structured, Mr. Morris said that "it is very difficult to say what the fees will be. We have always had our fees here in Canada based on weight, which presented a series of fees with no particular established amounts with regard to numbers of lots in a given load or the kinds of packaging. Now what we are converting to, or will convert to because we are still waiting for some regulations to be passed where we can then start charging clients on an hourly basis ... some commodity groups of straight loads will be less than what it was before, but when we get into sophisticated packaging or a number of lots which are in a particular load it will go up. It's very difficult to predict a percent increase, but it does align the approach a little more closely with the USDA approach, but will be based purely on an hourly rate."
Mr. Morris said that while change will definitely take place in the country's four major wholesale markets -- Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver -- in the first year, "in isolated areas, the service will continue under the umbrella that it has been in recent years since the CFIA was founded in 1997. "There will be evaluations on the best way of servicing isolated areas in the second and third years of the phase-in period," he continued, "but there will be dedicated service in those four major areas starting as of Sunday [April 1]."
"It's been a long haul, but the results have been rewarding, and we think that as we go through this transitional period of implementation, the service will get closer and closer to what the industry needs and wants," he said. "This is a very positive step for the future."
"Over the last several years, the industry here in Canada has been working very closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to find ways and means of improving the service of destination inspection," said Wayne Morris, a consultant working for the Fresh Produce Alliance on its destination inspection service initiative, one of eight initiatives that the alliance -- a collaborative undertaking of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association, the Canadian Horticultural Council and the Dispute Resolution Corp. tasked with building an improved business environment for the fresh produce industry -- is currently working on.
"We looked at a number of options and narrowed it down to one particular business model and fortunately for the industry the CFIA agreed to pursue that model and put it into place," said Mr. Morris.
The new service, which went into effect April 1, was the beginning of what Mr. Morris said was a "three year phase-in period that ultimately will get a new organization up to the point that it will address all of industry's desires that they had identified a number of years ago that was necessary to meet the expectation's of industry clients. What the CFIA has done is agree to improve service by creating a new entity within itself to have dedicated resources for this service, which is a really positive move."
According to a press release on the CPMA's web site, "new fees will only take effect once proposed changes to the regulations are approved. In the meantime, fees will remain the same and will continue to be charged according to the current fee schedule. All non-destination inspection services such as export inspections, customs clearance, licensing and arbitration, packaging and labeling and food safety will continue to be delivered by regular CFIA staff."
When asked how the new fees would be structured, Mr. Morris said that "it is very difficult to say what the fees will be. We have always had our fees here in Canada based on weight, which presented a series of fees with no particular established amounts with regard to numbers of lots in a given load or the kinds of packaging. Now what we are converting to, or will convert to because we are still waiting for some regulations to be passed where we can then start charging clients on an hourly basis ... some commodity groups of straight loads will be less than what it was before, but when we get into sophisticated packaging or a number of lots which are in a particular load it will go up. It's very difficult to predict a percent increase, but it does align the approach a little more closely with the USDA approach, but will be based purely on an hourly rate."
Mr. Morris said that while change will definitely take place in the country's four major wholesale markets -- Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver -- in the first year, "in isolated areas, the service will continue under the umbrella that it has been in recent years since the CFIA was founded in 1997. "There will be evaluations on the best way of servicing isolated areas in the second and third years of the phase-in period," he continued, "but there will be dedicated service in those four major areas starting as of Sunday [April 1]."
"It's been a long haul, but the results have been rewarding, and we think that as we go through this transitional period of implementation, the service will get closer and closer to what the industry needs and wants," he said. "This is a very positive step for the future."
