The Canadian Food Inspection Agency uses a risk-based approach to verify that domestically produced and imported products meet Canadian standards and regulations. CFIA compliance and enforcement actions occur all along the supply chain and they involve numerous stakeholders and jurisdictions.
CFIA compliance and enforcement activities can occur:
The CFIA’s Compliance and Enforcement Operational Policy presents our approach to compliance and enforcement. The approach contains the following elements:
The Policy also details the roles and responsibilities of regulated parties and CFIA officials.
The Policy was updated in 2010. It now places greater emphasis on transparency by providing consumers and other stakeholders with more detailed information on enforcement activities, and recourse mechanisms available to regulated parties.
Regulated parties are responsible for complying with all acts and regulations that apply to them, including those administered and enforced by the CFIA.
When it comes to enforcement, the CFIA takes a risk-based approach to compliance management. When the CFIA identifies non-compliance with the legislation it administers and enforces, it has a number of tools it can use to respond.
The CFIA clearly identifies likely consequences for the regulated parties, and applies predictable, consistent enforcement. Regulated parties can expect that the CFIA will take any non-compliance seriously and will deal with it in a professional manner.
Applying one or more of the tools, the CFIA can do the following: