CFIA audit finds ‘deficiencies’ in tracking imported foods

OTTAWA – The safety of imported foods in Canada is at risk because of multiple "deficiencies" with the federal government’s oversight system, a newly released internal audit has found.

The objective of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s audit, completed in July and quietly posted on the agency’s website this week, was to "provide assurance to senior management that CFIA’s imported food activities are designed, organized and delivered in order to achieve food safety objectives."

But the internal audit, which tracked import controls from April 2005 to March 2008 and analyzed some current management practices, uncovered a different picture.

"In my opinion, CFIA management of imported food safety has deficiencies that represent multiple areas of risk exposure requiring significant improvements related to the governance, control and risk management processes," Peter Everson, CFIA’s chief audit executive, wrote.

But one of the main findings also raises the question of whether CFIA will act on the problems uncovered in the audit. In addition to the absence of regular reporting to management about the performance of the agency’s nine food commodity programs, procedures are not in place to make sure problems flagged in prior audits and internal reviews are addressed, the audit found.

CFIA has already tried to blunt this criticism, with the August launch of online consultations to enhance import controls in the non-federally registered sector, which includes beverages, infant formula, confectionary, cereals, spices and seasonings and baked products.

The audit notes that these food products, in particular, are poorly tracked during import to determine whether they meet Canadian safety standards. The audit also notes that no foreign country equivalence controls are in place for food commodity programs other than meat, fish and eggs.

The audit assessed import controls for all nine food commodity programs, namely: meat, fish, eggs, dairy, maple, honey, fresh fruits and vegetables, processed products and non-federally registered products.

Overall, the audit found that CFIA’s Import Control Policy, announced in 2002 to guide import control activities, has not yet been fully implemented and an agencywide strategy specific to imported food safety has not been developed. Besides, "due to (an) evolving imports environment, its status as a guiding document for managing food imports is unclear."

For example, the inflation-adjusted value of food imported increased about 45 per cent over a 10-year period, to $21.8 billion in 2006 from $14.2 billion in 1997. In 1993, 143 countries exported food products to Canada. Today, the number is about 200, and their goods represent over 70 per cent of food products sold in Canada.

According to the audit, CFIA’s risk management approach does not always work properly, so resources and oversight may not be going to the areas where the risk of food safety problems is greater. "A documented risk assessment including both scientific and business risks is not prepared for all food commodity programs," the audit states.

"Failing to identify and assess risks to the achievement of CFIA’s objectives for imported food safety on food commodity-by-commodity basis and across food commodities may lead to redundant or insufficient risk mitigation strategies. This may also lead to inefficiencies and possibly unacceptable levels of risk," the audit states.

The audit also flagged a resource problem for import controls at a time when imports continue to grow in complexity and volume.

In a statement to Postmedia News, CFIA emphasized that the period covered by the audit was April 2005 to March 2008, and the agency "has taken decisive action on the management of imported food safety since then."

This includes the establishment of Import Surveillance Teams, which performed 480 border blitzes last year and expanded targeted surveys to test potentially higher-risk foods for the presence of microbial and chemical hazards, as well as the presence of undeclared allergens.

But others familiar with CFIA’s import controls say there are huge holes that still need to be plugged.

Christopher Kyte, president of Food Processors of Canada, said his organization "has been asking for reliable import controls for 20 years," so he’s pleased CFIA has launched consultations to bring in tougher regulations to enhance import controls.

"Where we have some concern is how fast and how practical is this program going to be. Here’s the situation, when I complain about non-compliance of imports, the government does not generally act," said Kyte.

"Essentially, this policy, from our point of view, is long overdue. We support it, but it’s not clear to us what the import policy is and it’s not clear how fast we can get moving on this, given that they’ve had a policy since 2002 and they haven’t been doing their jobs."

In the meantime, Bob Kingston, president of the agriculture union representing CFIA inspectors, said the system of import controls remains a "crap shoot. The system is all over the map," said Kingston, citing the various programs that "work largely in silos."