Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan

Plans, Spending and Results

• 2013-2014
• 2012-2013
• 2011-2012
• 2010-2011
• 2009-2010
• 2008-2009

Name of horizontal initiative 5: Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan (Action Plan).

Name of lead department(s):

Health Canada (HC)
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC),
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

Lead department program activity:

• HC: Health Products, Consumer Products Safety, Pesticide Safety and Food Safety and Nutrition;
• CFIA: Food Safety Program;
• PHAC: Health Promotion, Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, and Infectious Disease Prevention and Control;
• CIHR: Health and Health Services Advances.

Start date of the horizontal initiative:

2008-2009

End date of the horizontal initiative:

2012-2013 (and ongoing)

Total federal funding allocation:

$489.4 million over five years ending in Fiscal Year 2012-2013 (and $126.7 million ongoing)

Description of the horizontal initiative (including funding agreement):

The federal government is responsible for promoting the health and safety of Canadians. A key part of this role is ensuring that the food, health and consumer products used by Canadians are safe. Adverse consequences associated with unsafe products impact not only the Canadian public, but also the Canadian economy. The Action Plan is a horizontal initiative aimed at modernizing and strengthening Canada's safety system for food, health and consumer products. A number of high-profile incidents, such as lead and ingestible magnets in children's toys, foodborne illness outbreaks, and the global withdrawal of some prescription medicines, have underscored the need for government action.

The Action Plan modernizes Canada's regulatory system to enable it to better protect Canadians from unsafe consumer products in the face of current realities and future pressures. The Action Plan bolsters Canada's regulatory system by committing to amending or replacing outdated health and safety legislation with new legislative regimes that respond to modern realities, and by enhancing safety programs in areas where modern legislative tools already exist. The Action Plan helps to ensure that Canadians have the information they need to assess the risks and benefits associated with the consumer and health products they choose to use, and to minimize risks associated with food safety.

The Action Plan is an integrated, risk-based plan and includes a series of initiatives that are premised on three key areas of action: active prevention, targeted oversight and rapid response. We focus on active prevention to avoid as many incidents as possible and work closely with industry to promote awareness, provide regulatory guidance, and help identify safety concerns at an early stage. Targeted oversight provides for early detection of safety problems and further safety verification at the appropriate stage in a product's life cycle. To improve rapid response capabilities and ensure the government has the ability to act quickly and effectively when needed, we work to enhance health and safety risk assessments, strengthen recall capacity, and increase the efficiency in responding and communicating clearly with consumers and stakeholders.

Shared outcome(s):

• Increased knowledge of food risks and product safety (scientific and surveillance/monitoring);
• Increased industry awareness and understanding of regulatory requirements;
• Increased industry compliance with safety standards;
• Increased consumer awareness and understanding of safety risks associated with health and consumer products and food;
• Strengthened oversight and response to safety incidents;
• Increased consumer confidence in health and consumer products and food;
• Increased trade-partner confidence in Canadian controls, which meet international standards;
• Increased availability of safe and effective products; and
• Level playing field where imports can be demonstrated to meet Canadian requirements.

Governance structure(s):

The Minister of Health and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada have joint responsibility and accountability for results, and for providing information on progress achieved by the Action Plan.

A Governance Framework has been established and endorsed by all of the partner departments/agencies. To facilitate horizontal coordination, the following Director General (DG)/Executive Director (ED) level Task Forces have been established:

• Legislative and Regulatory Task Force;
• Health Products Task Force;
• Consumer Products Task Force;
• Food Task Force; and the
• Communications Task Force.

These Task Forces report to a DG/ED level Coordinating Committee. An Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM)/Vice President (VP) level Steering Committee provides direction to the Coordinating Committee. An Oversight Committee of Deputy Heads facilitates the provision of high level guidance to the Steering Committee.

Health Canada's Strategic Policy Branch (SPB) provided the Secretariat function for the Action Plan until April 2012 when it was transferred to Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB). The Secretariat provides the oversight and integration of performance against commitments, and providing advice to senior management.

Health Canada's Health Products and Food Branch (HPFB) has primary responsibility for implementing Action Plan activities related to health products with support from Health Canada's Strategic Policy Branch (SPB) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) on one initiative (increased knowledge of post-market drug safety and effectiveness).

Health Canada's Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch (HECSB) and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), along with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), work together to implement Action Plan activities related to consumer products. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), HPFB and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) work together to implement Action Plan activities related to food safety.

The Public Affairs, Consultation and Communications Branch (PACCB) provide communications support for all of the above activities and will coordinate or lead many of the horizontal Departmental activities under the Consumer Information Strategy.

Contact information:

Kendal Weber,
Director General,
Policy, Planning and International Affairs Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch, Health Canada
Telephone: 613-952-8149
E-mail: Contact Kendal Weber by email: Kendal.Weber@hc-sc.gc.ca