Farmscape for August 31, 2005  (Episode 1900)

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency expects to begin the second phase of its review of Canada's on farm food safety programs in late October.

To validate Canada's on farm food safety programs internationally, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has developed a technical review process designed to ensure their soundness.

A total of 14 national producer organizations have submitted the documentation needed to begin step one of the technical review and eight, including the Canadian pork industry, have completed that step.

On Farm Food Safety Recognition program National Coordinator C. Warren Smandych says the second part of the technical review, the management system review, is now ready to move forward.

Clip-C. Warren Smandych-Canadian Food Inspection Agency 

We are going to be starting a technical review pilot for the management system review.

CFIA has developed a gap analysis check list which is based on a requirements document for what is needed in an on farm food safety management system to ensure that all of the required information is found within the management system.

Being that it's a pilot, we have lengthened the process.

To ensure that we have enough time, we will conduct the pilot process and then, on completion, we will be going back and doing a quick management review of the materials that have been developed to make sure that they are effective and then basically we'll start on whoever the next submission will be for a management system review.

Smandych says, as the pilot phase two review gets underway, phase one evaluations will continue with a new review process part one which will be used beginning next week.

He says he's aware of four national producer organizations that are close to ready to submit their phase two documentation and it's really just a matter of waiting to find out which group will submit first.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

       *Farmscape is a presentation of Sask Pork and Manitoba Pork Council