FoodLaw: Annual Ottawa Update

Report of the Independent Investigation
into the 2008 Listeriosis Outbreak
A very thorough piece of public policy analysis that provides a number of excellent recommendations. Future columns will return to this useful report.

Mandatory Pre-market
Registration of Meat Product Labels
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced its intention to get out of this business, but there are divisions within the industry and it now looks like the CFIA has been scared off the proposal. Too bad. Health Claims
Except for some emerging flexibility on “structure” claims, same as last year: more workshops, more dithering; no changes for the foreseeable future.

CFIA Ministerial Advisory Board
Another year has gone by and still no Board appointments in spite of the legislative requirement and clear need. Hopefully the strong recommendation of the Listeria Investigator on exactly this point will finally have some effect.

Additive Law Modernization
Still no progress on the promised modernization that would begin to eliminate the completely unacceptable delays that daily undermine innovation, competitiveness and investment. Delays in approvals can also undermine public health as the Listeria Investigator noted. The current situation is unsustainable but there is still no process to fix it.

Two Interesting Court Cases
The Gerber case raises interesting questions about the constitutional validity of our hundreds of “standards of identity” under the Canada Agricultural Products Act. The Federal Court judge was very critical of the CFIA lawyer. The scope of the decision is not clear nor do we know yet whether it will be appealed.

Last year’s Ottawa update reported on the introduction of new regulations relating to compositional standards for cheese. The three largest dairy processors, Kraft, Saputo and Parmalat, responded by bringing an application to have the new regulations declared unconstitutional as being outside the scope of federal jurisdiction. The hearings are complete but the decision not yet rendered. Like the Gerber case, this case could result in a decision that could clarify the federal government’s power to set non-food safety standards for food. Both cases are worth watching. We’ll track them and provide analysis in a future column. It hasn’t been a good year for food law modernization.