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Canada
Codex Contact Point
Office of the Codex Contact Point for Canada Food Directorate, Health Canada, 251 Sir Frederick Banting Driveway, (2204C), Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9, Canada Tel: + 613-941-1749
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
National legislation on food safety: FAOLEX

Competent authorities

Name of authority
Health Canada (HC) The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)
Mandate/competence
Health Canada is responsible for: - establishing food safety policies and standards governing the safety and nutritional quality of all food sold in Canada; - the provision of information and advice on food safety and nutrition and promoting the nutritional health and well-being of Canadians; - conducting health risk assessments in support of food safety investigations; - evaluates the safety of veterinary drugs used in food producing animals as well as pesticides used in food production. www.hc-sc.gc.ca CFIA is responsible for: - designing and delivering federal food inspection programs; - verifying industry compliance with food safety regulations for food trade inter-provincially and internationally; - initiating food recalls in collaboration with industry and investigates foodborne illness outbreaks. www.inspection.gc.ca PHAC is responsible for: - conducting food-related illness surveillance and outbreak investigations; - provides advice to Canadians on how to protect themselves during an outbreak. www.phac-aspc.gc.ca AAFC is responsible for: - contributing to research and development of on-farm food safety programs; - working with the agriculture sector to facilitate continued improvement of Canada’s food safety system. www.agr.gc.ca
INFOSAN Emergency Contact Point
National Manager (at present Christine Kopko) Office of Food Safety and Recall Canadian Food Inspection Agency 1400 Merivale Road, Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1A 0Y9

Food safety and consumer protection – laws and regulations

The current list of legislation, related to food safety and consumer protection in each country, is extracted from FAO's database on Food Legislation FAOLEX.
While FAOLEX makes every effort to serve as a high quality, reliable source of information, no guarantee is given that the information provided in FAOLEX is correct, complete, and up-to-date.

The national Codex programme

National Codex consultative mechanism
Management of Canada’s Codex Program is exercised through the Interdepartmental Committee on the Codex Alimentarius (IDC/Codex). The IDC/Codex consists of senior federal officials and technical experts from Health Canada, CFIA, AAFC, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO). Federal departments work closely together and in collaboration with industry and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to develop and advance Canadian positions of common interest in Codex.
Providers of scientific and technical input to national consultation on Codex
The list of Canadian stakeholders providing scientific and technical input on Codex work is extensive and lengthy and varies significantly depending on the Codex Committee.

Risk Assessments and Scientific Data

National bodies providing risk assessment and scientific advice
Health Canada’s Food Directorate has responsibility for providing food-related health risk assessments and scientific advice in support of food safety investigations as well as standard setting. Health Canada, through its Veterinary Drug Directorate (VDD) and Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), also evaluates the safety of veterinary drugs used in food producing animals as well as pesticides used in food production.
Risk assessment, risk profiles, scientific opinions
Risk assessments, risk profiles and scientific opinions available in the public domain can be accessed at: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca.
Official Laboratory
Health Canada's Food Directorate houses a number of laboratories that conduct chemical, microbiological and nutritional laboratory research and surveillance programs in support of policy development, standard setting, and risk assessment, and include the development and validation of laboratory methods. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) uses a network of Agency and third party accredited laboratories across Canada that perform microbiology, allergen and chemical residue testing to verify that food safety and quality standards are met. The CFIA laboratories also carry out research to develop, improve and validate methods for known and emerging hazards. Third party laboratories are eligible to perform routine work for established programs under contract to the CFIA. All laboratories performing this work are accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025 Standard for laboratory operations and technical competence. More information on accreditation can be found at the following link: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/chemical-residues-microbiology/laboratory-management/qmof/eng/1342722248818/1342722485391
Official Competence

Surveillance of foodborne diseases and monitoring of food contamination

National surveillance systems – foodborne disease in humans
Canada uses data from different surveillance systems to estimate foodborne disease in humans. Information on these systems can be found here: http://healthycanadians.gc.ca/eating-nutrition/risks-recalls-rappels-risques/surveillance/illness-estimates-estimations-maladies/surveillance-eng.php.
National monitoring systems – foodborne hazards in the food chain
In Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for enforcing food safety regulations. The CFIA's inspection programs include monitoring and surveillance programs for foodborne hazards. Information on the microbiological and chemical residue programs can be found here: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/chemical-residues-microbiology/eng/1331960432334/1331962151945.