Ontario's flower growers to register premises

Saturday, March 24, 2012

by SUSAN MANN

Ontario flower growers will be registering their premises with OnTrace as the first step in the development of a reliable traceability and bio-security strategy for the floriculture industry.

Flowers Canada (Ontario) Inc. has developed a program called B-Fast B-Secure to support its mission to enhance the profitability and competitiveness of Ontario’s floriculture industry. The premises registry is being done as part of that program. The traceability strategies being implemented will be in conjunction with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency requirements for plant and plant materials movement.

Flowers Canada (Ontario) executive director Dean Shoemaker says in a press release by partnering with OnTrace “we will be able to identify, locate and map all of the floriculture greenhouses in Ontario as the first step in the implementation of a traceability and bio-security strategy for Ontario’s floriculture greenhouse growers.”

Flowers Canada (Ontario) has served the floriculture sector for more than 40 years. It has more than 250 greenhouse floriculture members.

OnTrace is the industry-led, non-profit organization leading food traceability programs and initiatives in Ontario.

OnTrace CEO Brian Sterling says their role is to register the locations of all premises involved with Flowers Canada in Ontario. BF