A federal bill to boost the fines for food safety violations and strengthen federal powers to order product recalls has arrived at the House of Commons.
A new Consumer Product Safety Act and amendments to the Food and Drugs Act were in the legislative package introduced Tuesday.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a release that the new laws “will improve our safety and our health, make Canadian brands more competitive among global consumers, and boost confidence at home as a country whose product safety standards are second to none.”
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The legislation will include:
- a “crackdown” on negligent manufacturers, importers and retailers who knowingly endanger their customers;
- improved public access to information about product safety;
- “general prohibition” against making, importing, advertising or selling consumer products that are considered a danger to human health or safety;
- mandatory reporting by suppliers of serious product-related incidents, including near-misses and defects;
- a new power for the federal government to order recalls of unsafe consumer products; and
- “dramatically increased” fines for violations.
Increased powers for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Canadian Border Services Agency will include the authority to stop imports of food; the power to hold and test products; the authority to license or register importers; the power to require importers to establish systems to record the origin and destination of products; and an improved approach to sharing information with other governments.
The legislation will also grant CFIA authority to require the implementation of preventative food safety controls, such as HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) systems, in “areas of highest risk.”
The proposed legislation mirrors many of the pledges the Harper government made in December as part of what it called the Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan, which promised to increase fines for violations of the Food and Drugs Act from $5,000 to “current international standards.”
“This legislation aims to level the playing field and ensure all
companies are equally accountable for what they import and sell to consumers,”
The “vast majority of Canadian manufacturers play by the rules and
take the safety of their products seriously and they shouldn’t be hurt by
those who don’t,” said Croitoru, whose group represents manufacturers of Canada’s major grocery and consumer product brands.
“Focusing on imported goods
from countries or companies with a history of problems just makes sense.
Increasing our ability to scrutinize and oversee imports based on risk greatly
enhances our ability to detect threats to public health without crippling
commerce or violating our trade commitments.”
