March 2020 - Ogena Solutions

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is working diligently to address the challenges and concerns raised by industry and consumers regarding COVID-19. The CFIA will continue to deliver critical services that serve to preserve the integrity of Canada’s food safety system while safeguarding its animal and plant resource base. Appropriate oversight of domestic production and imported food products are essential to meeting that objective while also supporting trade and the supply chain, including through the certification of exports. The CFIA is committed to protecting the health and safety of its employees while maintaining critical inspection services.The CFIA will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and will adjust activities to take into account the evolving situation. The CFIA will continue to collaborate and communicate regularly with regulated parties, federal, provincial and territorial colleagues and stakeholders.The CFIA is prioritizing critical activities during COVID-19 pandemicThe Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is taking action to preserve the integrity of Canada’s food safety system, while safeguarding its animal and plant resource base.The CFIA has activated its business continuity plan, which introduces a temporary suspension of low-risk activities that do not immediately impact the production of safe food for Canadians in order to prioritize critically important services during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The food safety system remains strong.This approach to temporarily suspend low-risk activities allows the CFIA to continue to safeguard the health and safety of its staff while refocusing efforts in areas of higher risk and towards activities that are critical to the safety of food, as well as animal and plant health.The Government of Canada is working hard with partners at all levels to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as it develops. This includes continuing to perform the critical activities and to deliver needed services to preserve the integrity of Canada’s food safety system.CFIA is prioritizing:Food safety investigations and recallsAnimal disease investigationsInspection servicesExport certificationImport inspection servicesEmergency managementLaboratory diagnostics in support of the aboveCFIA is temporarily suspending:Food inspections and investigations not related to food safetyLow risk surveillance or sampling activities (food, plant and animal)Inspections of preventive control plans and plant and animal inspections in areas of low riskLow risk labelling and domestic facility inspectionsLow risk permissionsWhile the CFIA’s business continuity plan is in place, industry must continue to comply with requirements pertaining to food, animal and plant health and remains responsible for the safety and quality of the food that it produces, imports and exports. The CFIA is working with industry and is continuing its critical activities so that Canadians continue to have access to safe food during this difficult time.In an effort to protect the health and safety of its employees and their families and while providing critical services, the CFIA continues to monitor developments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and to support the efforts of the Canadian and global authorities in their responses by making adjustments to its service delivery plans.The CFIA understands the concerns of industry and consumers with respect to COVID-19 and the unprecedented impact around the globe on businesses, economies and people and is committed to communicating its ongoing activities.Current measures during COVID-19 for industry regulated by the CFIAIn recent days, the CFIA has received many requests from industry to have its inspectors and officials sign various documents, such as Visitor Request Forms and COVID-19 Screening Forms, before entering its facilities. Inspectors have also received requests from industry to follow specific directives before entering a place for inspection. As you are aware, CFIA officials are not present at establishments as “visitors” but as inspectors under CFIA legislation that allows them to enter any place in which they have reasonable grounds to believe that an activity regulated by CFIA legislation is conducted, for the purpose of verifying compliance and/or preventing non-compliance.To ensure that inspectors continue to meet the health and safety requirements stemming from the Public Health Agency of Canada’s (PHAC) and Health Canada’s guidelines regarding the management of the COVID-19 Pandemic, CFIA employees have been asked to conduct a self-assessment of their daily health status for potential symptoms of the virus prior to each shift. They have also been asked to follow COVID-19 protocols put in place by the establishments in which they work, such as the monitoring of temperature upon arrival on or at an establishment.Please note that CFIA employees have been advised by the CFIA not to sign documents such as your company’s COVID-19 Form as they are required to abide by the policies, procedures and terms of employment established by their employer, the CFIA. As a reminder, CFIA inspectors are not obligated to share personal information with regulated parties regarding their personal travels or health conditions. This is protected personal information under the federal Privacy Act.The CFIA understands the concerns of industry with respect to COVID-19 and the exceptional circumstances that currently exist. The purpose of this Notice is to inform regulated parties of some of the measures that it has put in place regarding the COVID-19 situation. These measures are informed by the CFIA’s obligations regarding the health and safety of its employees, which derive from federal legislation, that is, the Canada Labour Code, Part II, and the Canada Occupational Health and Safety Regulations. Regarding the COVID-19 situation, the CFIA is also taking into consideration the advice and recommendations of the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada and Treasury Board.The CFIA takes its obligations regarding the health and safety of its employees very seriously. As a result, it has advised its employees of the following based on the current advice from the Public Health Agency of Canada (please note, this advice to employees is subject to change and to being updated):If they have travelled outside of Canada, upon their return CFIA employees should self-isolate for 14 daysEmployees who have COVID-19 symptoms must advise their manager immediately, contact their local public health authority or medical practitioner and leave the workplaceEmployees who are at home and who may have COVID-19 are to follow the advice of their local public health authority regarding self-isolation