Reading Time: 3 minutes Canada’s agriculture department and food safety agency will carry out their part of the federal government’s Indo-Pacific strategy from a new office in Manila, Philippines. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced the office’s location Wednesday in Ottawa during a meeting with the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA), which represents Canada’s export-dependent ag commodity groups on […] Read more
Philippines to host Canada’s Indo-Pacific ag office
AAFC/CFIA base to be set up in Manila, Bibeau says
MPs get assurance on Canada’s biosecurity preparedness
Canada well prepared for foreign animal diseases, officials say
Reading Time: 2 minutes Officials from several federal agencies have reassured the public about Canada’s animal biosecurity preparedness. Witnesses from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) spoke to MPs’ concerns about livestock diseases at a committee meeting last Wednesday afternoon. Biosecurity preparedness has been a relevant issue […] Read more
Gene-edited crops clear CFIA’s regulatory bar
Agency guidance puts gene editing on level of conventional breeding
Reading Time: 4 minutes Plants gene-edited for efficient use of water or nutrients or to better withstand pests or drought now won’t have to clear the same regulatory hurdles in Canada as any crops that are modified for herbicide tolerance or include foreign genes. Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Wednesday announced updated guidance from the Canadian Food Inspection […] Read more
Federal workers reach tentative deal
Over 120,000 PSAC members back on job Monday
Reading Time: 3 minutes Over 120,000 striking federal government employees are expected to return to work starting Monday morning (May 1) after reaching tentative agreements overnight. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) announced after midnight Monday it had reached tentative agreements for workers in four bargaining units who negotiate with the federal Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Among […] Read more
Ontario domestic dog dies of avian flu
Three poultry barns east of Montreal see outbreaks in space of a week
Reading Time: 2 minutes Pet owners are being warned not to feed their animals raw meat from poultry or game birds or allow pets to consume or play with dead wild birds after the death of a dog from avian flu in southern Ontario. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Tuesday reported the results of a necropsy on an […] Read more
CFIA seeks feedback on traceability, animal ID amendments
Producers have until June 16 to comment on proposals
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is now seeking comment on its proposed amendments to livestock identification and traceability regulations. The regulatory proposal would address what the agency calls “gaps” in the current system, including: adding goats and cervids as animal species that share diseases with other regulated livestock, and therefore subject to traceability requirements, shortening […] Read more
Potato wart survey gives clean bill of health
Fields across Canada with a history of getting seed potatoes from P.E.I. tested negative
Reading Time: 2 minutes A national survey on the watch for potato wart has come back clean. On March 13, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said results from their 2022 potato wart survey had not found any cases of the soil-borne fungus. The agency had tested nearly 1,500 soil samples from fields in British Columbia, the three Prairie […] Read more
Feds appoint new deputy ag minister, CFIA chief
Eleven senior civil servants shuffled
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s government has lined up a new federal deputy minister for agriculture and a new president for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, both to take office later this month. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced a shuffle in the top ranks of the public service involving 11 senior managers following four recent retirements. Associate […] Read more
CFIA president retires
NFU calls for next agency boss to prevent 'regulatory capture'
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canada’s federal regulator for the food and animal and plant health sectors is in the market for a new president following the incumbent’s retirement. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed its president, Dr. Siddika Mithani, has retired from the federal public service effective Jan. 20. Mithani has led CFIA since February 2019, having served […] Read more
CropLife not driving CFIA policy, agency says
NFU calls for CFIA head's ouster over 'indication of improper collaboration'
Reading Time: 3 minutes The National Farmers Union and a clutch of other organizations have asked Canada’s federal ag minister to replace the president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, citing questions about the provenance of regulatory proposals on gene-edited seed. CFIA officials, however, reject the NFU’s allegation that the metadata attached to the proposal document in question may […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
