Canadian pilot program loosens red tape on U.S. onion imports

Thursday, June 27, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

The federal government is embarking on an ambitious series of pilot projects aimed at lowering or eliminating mandatory grade certification inspections for some produce imported from the United States.

But for the system to work the Canadian Produce Marketing Association wants the same rules applied to exports as they would to imports, says president Ron Lemaire.

“If this is to be successful there needs to be reciprocity for Canadian products going south,” he notes.

The association is a non-profit organization representing companies marketing fresh fruits and vegetables in Canada.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is undertaking the project as part of the Beyond the Border Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness signed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and United States President Barak Obama on Feb. 4, 2011. The declaration established a new long-term partnership built upon a perimeter approach to security and economic competitiveness.

CFIA spokesperson Elena Koutsavakis says by email the commitment in the Beyond the Border Action Plan is geared to products imported from the United States but the agency has started to discuss a reciprocal approach with the United States Department of Agriculture. “These discussions are around Canadian exporters having a similar approach to quality related inspections going south, thereby expediting the movement of certain products.” Any requirements related to plant health wouldn’t change.

She says the action plan “will help create a better environment for our agricultural and food processors and minimize disruptions to cross-border trade. These initiatives offer real opportunities to change the way Canadian and U.S. regulators do business, improving two-way agriculture and food trade and strengthening the mutual competitiveness of our respective sectors.”

The first pilot is tentatively scheduled to run from July to April 2014 and involves removing the mandatory grade verification import inspection requirements for onions imported from the United States, she says. More analysis and industry consultation will be needed to determine if it’s feasible to implement a pilot for apples and potatoes.

In 2012, there were 149.2 million kilograms of onion imports from the United States worth $98.3 million, according to figures supplied by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Onion exports to the United States in 2012 were 38.4 million kilograms valued at $22 million.

Current regulations in Canada require that every imported load of onions, apples and potatoes meet quality or grade requirements and also be inspected and certified to meet those requirements, Koutsavakis says. While CFIA is exploring product specific pilots for onions and possibly later apples and potatoes aimed at lowering inspection rates, the agency would still inspect these imported products for food safety.

The intent of the Agrifood Pilot “is to determine whether it is feasible to reduce quality inspection frequencies for apples, onions and/or potatoes imported from the United States and whether industry can manage the risks related to quality standards on its own without significant reliance on CFIA or USDA inspections,” she says.

Lemaire says CFIA is talking about reducing or eliminating quality inspections “but to get to elimination there still needs to be checks and balances in the system and, to be successful, part of the study would identify what those checks and balances are.”

Currently CFIA is just looking at onions in its pilot project, he says. There is a fairly high compliance rate among industry for meeting the grade standard for onions now and industry does have a stricter standard than the government’s grade certification standard. “Industry (for onions) is already self regulated,” he notes.

“There are greater challenges in moving into a pilot on apples and potatoes,” he says.

Reducing quality inspection frequencies would reduce costs for the industry and increase value to the market but Lemaire says he didn’t know by how much. BF