Canadian horticultural producers are strongly committed to food safety. The Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC)’s CanadaGAP (On-Farm Food Safety) Program was born out of our members’ collective desire to respond to market demands to demonstrate producer and packer vigilance about food safety.
The CHC also plays an active role in advocating on behalf of our members for government programs that support the public good and assist producers and packers with implementation of OFFS programs.
Role of the Canadian Horticultural Council
The vision of the Canadian Horticultural Council in the area of food safety is to ensure members receive the necessary information and tools to allow the sector to be proactive and well positioned to meet the ever-changing and evolving demands from the marketplace and government bodies.
The CHC’s role is to work with members, governments and other partners in the supply chain, to ensure understanding of the on-farm realities relative to food safety.
The CHC has responsibility for maintaining and delivering the CanadaGAP Program developed for and by members.
Serving the Public Good
Producer/packer participation in on-farm food safety programs is increasingly becoming an expected part of agricultural production, and the market is not providing any extra returns to producers, despite the industry taking on extra costs to implement and maintain OFFS systems.
Canadian farmers have long been providing safe food to their customers at home and abroad. Generally speaking, on-farm food safety programs do not introduce new, safer practices for actually producing food. What they do introduce are systems of recording, documenting and verifying that the production practices are being followed and are effective in controlling potential contamination.
CHC’s role has been to develop a toolkit and program that provides the structure and demonstration of due diligence for participating producers and packers. Because Canadian food is already safe, the program is not making the food any safer – it is simply documenting what producers/packers are already doing, providing assurance through auditable records as well as tools and equipment that validate they’ve been doing things right all along.
There are very real and often substantial costs to individual producers/packers providing these additional assurances of safe food production practices to customers. These assurances are usually provided directly to food buyers (such as retail chains, processors, food service distributors) but are ultimately to respond to consumer concerns. Public support through allocating government funds to OFFS programs and supporting Canadian farmers will help producers bear the added costs of demonstrating their safe food production practices.
It should be remembered that Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating recommends 5 -10 servings of fruit and vegetables daily. The benefits of consuming fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle far outweigh the risks associated with the consumption of fruit and vegetables.
Standing Committee on Food Safety
The CHC Standing Committee on Food Safety meets each year in March at the CHC Annual General Meeting to address food safety issues that impact the horticulture sector. The Standing Committee reports on, debates standing policy, and deals with items of business arising from:
- efforts to raise awareness of the horticulture industry's needs for OFFS implementation support;
- government funding of On-Farm Food Safety (OFFS) Program development and implementation;
- the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Government OFFS Recognition Program led by the CFIA;
- developments in the CHC OFFS Program (CanadaGAP);
- progress in research or technical updates;
- other matters related to food safety.
The Standing Committee is open to participation from all CHC members.
- Reports from the Food Safety Committee Chair
Food Safety Management Committee
The Food Safety Management Committee was formed in 2008 to oversee the direction and implementation of the CanadaGAP Program. The committee consists of five regionally-appointed members, elected in March at the CHC Annual General Meeting. The Committee meets on an as-needed basis.
The role of the Committee is to provide a structure and a forum for provincial member organizations to direct the CHC’s activities in the area of food safety and to address ongoing and emerging food safety issues affecting the horticulture sector.
A national approach to developing a food safety program for horticulture was supported by CHC members in order to:
- Maintain a level playing field for producers and packers across Canada
- Prevent food safety from becoming a marketing tool between regions and between buyers sourcing product from various production areas across Canada
- Access the federal government recognition process (Technical Review)
- Access federal government funding to develop programs
OFFS Technical Working Group
The On-Farm Food Safety (OFFS) Technical Working Group was formed in 2009 to maintain the OFFS technical standards developed by the CHC. Membership was drawn from members of commodity-specific OFFS Working Groups and Task Groups who contributed to developing the CanadaGAP (OFFS) Program, and other technical experts from within industry and stakeholder groups. The group seeks to achieve balanced representation from across all regions and to reflect knowledge of various types of production/storage/packing and different commodities. Nominations are received by the Food Safety Management Committee, who appoints members annually in March.
The Technical Working Group’s role is to:
- Review updates to the CHC Audit Checklist
- Review proposed revisions and updates to the CHC OFFS Manuals and HACCP models, as required
- Review other technical matters related to the CHC OFFS Program (e.g., self-assessment checklist and declaration of conformity, auditor training materials, etc.)
For more information about the CHC OFFS Technical Working Group, contact offs@hortcouncil.ca.
On-Farm Implementation Assistance – Government Funding for Producers
Federal On-Farm Food Safety Implementation (OFI) funding (previously accessed by the Canadian Horticultural Council (CHC) on behalf of its members) ended March 31, 2009. The CHC was previously involved in accessing that funding and co-delivering with its provincial member associations.
Under the new Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada policy framework, Growing Forward, OFI funding will now flow directly from federal to provincial governments, who are each designing their own assistance programs for industry.
For more information on provincial assistance programs:
Other On-Farm Food Safety Involvement
CHC is involved in Food Safety in other ways including:
-
Working in tandem with CHC members and the supply chain to ensure mutual understanding of needs, expectations and capabilities
-
Working with and lobbying government for enhancements to policies and programs for primary producers and packers
-
-
What is the CanadaGAP Program?
The CanadaGAP Program is an on-farm food safety program for producers, packers and storage intermediaries of horticultural crops. It is designed to help producers and packers implement effective food safety procedures in their operation. Six Commodity-specific manuals, developed by the horticultural industry and reviewed for technical soundness by Canadian government officials, are designed for producers and packers implementing Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs). The manuals are based on the seven basic principles of the internationally-recognized HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) approach. The Program is administered and maintained by the CHC, with audit and certification services delivered by internationally-accredited Certification Bodies.
To learn more, visit
www.canadagap.ca.
Links