Request for Proposals (RFP 018) for a Conference Regulation in the 21^st Century - Building a Framework for Policy Research in Microbial Food Safety

Funding and General Information

• Deadline for applications: February 25, 2004
• Up to $150,000 has been set aside in this competition for the support of one conference.
• Funding is expected to begin in August 2004. The conference must take place before March 30, 2005.
• Proposals with budgets that exceed $150,000, and those that do not meet the three objectives noted below will be deemed ineligible, without exception.

Scope of Competition

Health Canada is responsible for establishing national policies and standards relating to the safety of food¹. In the 2002, Speech from the Throne, the government committed to moving forward with a SMART regulation strategy², to renew federal health protection legislation to emphasize prevention and to take steps to strengthen the security of Canada's food system³. Consequently, Health Canada is 1) reviewing its food safety legislation, 2) looking beyond traditional regulatory mechanisms to other possible policy instruments, and 3) continuing to ensure that its policies are science-based.

In partial response to the commitments above, Health Canada intends to develop a policy research initiative that will help bridge the gap between what is known about policy instruments and what is applied in policies and programs in food safety. This initiative will also address the evaluation of policy instruments in terms of their effectiveness in improving health outcomes. To achieve this goal, Health Canada is inviting proposals for the development, organization and delivery of a conference that meets the objectives as listed below. In order to conserve time and resources while demonstrating feasibility and effectiveness of this approach, this initial work will target the area of microbial food safety and not chemical/toxicological and nutritional food safety.

Objectives

1. To exchange information on existing policy research (including that outside the current topic area) that has relevance for a policy research framework on microbial food safety. Examples should be provided that demonstrate good solid methodology used in policy research.

participants must include decision makers, policy/program staff and scientists from Health Canada and other appropriate departments/agencies at the federal/provincial/territorial level and other countries, and also give consideration to other experts outside of the immediate field.

the process should help the group map the pressure points and vulnerabilities within the food safety system from a policy perspective and begin to list and prioritize the various issues that need to be addressed through policy research.

the process should ensure that the group comes to a consensus on the scope of the policy research agenda, an appropriate framework and outline next steps.

2. To build a set of initial priorities for primary and synthesis research.

Context

In Canada, it is estimated that at least one to two million food poisoning cases occur each year, with an estimated annual cost of over 1 billion dollars⁴,⁵. Ideally, federal food safety policy should address areas of the system where the greatest impact in reduction of human illness can be obtained while being cost-effective and practical to implement. Thus a thorough analysis of policy options should integrate knowledge from a vast array of areas of expertise.

The responsibility for prevention and control of foodborne enteric illness spans a wide range of jurisdictions from federal to municipal. The chain of input to the system is also broad, ranging from the animal / agricultural / environmental source through the slaughter / harvest, processing, wholesale, retail, the consumer and their food preparation habits, to the family physician / hospital and public health systems.

In his 1906 novel, "The Jungle", journalist Upton Sinclair described the horrific conditions that existed at the time in US slaughterhouses⁶. The resulting public outcry was the impetus for the passage of the US Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This Act mandated government inspection continuously during slaughter and processing of beef and pork. Since that time, both American and Canadian federal policy development and control strategies have largely targeted the slaughter and processing components of the food system, perhaps at the expense of other more effective means of control. It is now recognized that food safety policy must broadly address the entire system and target the components most likely to improve the final health outcome.

For example, in the past few years, policy initiatives have been launched that are targeted at the consumer (for example, labelling of raw meats and consumer education in food safety - Fight BAC!®⁷). New initiatives in the USA⁸,⁹ and the EU¹⁰ are targeting farms, the source of many foodborne pathogens. Recently in Canada, FPT Ministers of Agriculture agreed to an Agricultural Policy Framework¹¹ to make Canada the world leader in food safety by strengthening on-farm food safety measures and securing their international recognition. Increased foreign food safety combined with increased international trade flows in agricultural and food products have also resulted in increased intersection of food safety and trade policies.

These are new venues for Health Canada in its role as policy maker and standard setter in food safety. There are many possible points of intervention, yet knowledge gaps remain in determining which points are the most efficient and cost effective. It is critical that new policy initiatives be based on evidence of their potential effectiveness and their impact on the health of Canadians. The output of this conference will help yield define the policy issues in this area and help develop a policy research agenda upon which Health Canada can move forward.

Policy Contact

Applicants must get in touch with the policy contact at least once during the development of the proposal. The policy contact is responsible for ongoing interaction with researchers on the policy issues and context. Inquiries should be directed to Dr. Susan Read, Science Program Coordinator, Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses, Population and Public Health Branch, Health Canada (tel.: (519) 822-3300 ext. 227, email: susan_read@hc-sc.gc.ca).

How to Apply

Applicants are required to register in order to obtain an application form and a registration number which must be quoted on the application form. Applicants should consult HPRP Guide to workshop, seminar and conference funding before registering.

Inquiries regarding registration, eligibility/ineligibility, administrative questions about time frames and budgets, application formatting and content, the review process, and terms and conditions of the HPRP should be directed to Inger Abrams (tel.: (613) 952-8112, email: inger_abrams@hc-sc.gc.ca).

Applications must be received by 1:00pm (E.S.T.), February 25, 2004 (must be courier stamped February 24 for next day delivery).

Courier applications to:

Inger Abrams
Senior Program Consultant
Health Canada
Room 1532B, Jeanne Mance Building
Tunney's Pasture
Address Locator 1915A
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9
Tel: (613) 952-8112

References

1. Department of Justice Canada. (1997, c.6). Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act. Retrieved November 26, 2003, from http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-16.5/29468.html

2. External Advisory Committee on Smart Regulations. (2003). The Regulatory Process: Enabling Smart Regulation. Retrieved November 26, 2003, from http://www.smartregulation.gc.ca/en/05/01/i3-01.asp

3. Governor General of Canada. (2002). The Canada we want: Speech from the Throne to Open the Second Session of the Thirty-seventh Parliament of Canada. Retrieved November 26, 2003, from http://www.pco-bcp.gc.ca/sft-ddt/vnav/01_e.htm

4. Todd, E. C. D. (1989). Preliminary estimates of costs of foodborne disease in Canada and costs to reduce Salmonellosis. J. Food Prot., 52, 586-594.

5. Todd, E. C. D. (1989). Costs of acute bacterial foodborne disease in Canada and the United States. Int. J. Food Microbiol., 9, 313-326.

6. Sinclair, Upton. (1906). The Jungle. The Modern Library.

7. Fight BAC!® Program. (n.d.). Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education. Retrieved November 26, 2003, from http://www.fightbac.org/partner_canfightbac.cfm

8. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture (n.d.). 2000 President's Food Safety Initiative. Retrieved November 26, 2003, from http://www.foodsafety.gov/~fsg/fsiback.html

9. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Commerce. (n.d.). President's Council on Food Safety. Retrieved November 26, 2003, from http://www.foodsafety.gov/~fsg/presidentscouncil.html

10. Bulletin of the European Union. (n.d.). 2002 Proposal for a European Parliament and Council directive on monitoring of zoonoses and zoonotic agents. Retrieved November 26, 2003, from http://europa.eu.int/abc/doc/off/bull/en/200201/p104119.htm

11. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. (n.d.). Agricultural Policy Framework. Retrieved November 26, 2003, from http://www.agr.gc.ca/cb/apf/index_e.php