Canada's double standard

From K-State's Food Safety Network. Some of the same concerns about imports exist north of the border:


The Daily Bulletin (Kimberley)Carly Weeks Andy Terauds runs his 100-acre farm like the captain of a ship.Neat rows with dozens of varieties of lettuce, strawberries, onions and nearly 60 other crops are planted and picked by hand. Irrigation tubes connected to a small pond run through fields of pumpkins and squash insulated by sheets of clear plastic to provide the optimal growing temperature.None of his four staff members is permitted to work in the field if they are feeling sick. Under Canadian industry rules, Terauds can't enter his greenhouse with his glasses or pens in his front shirt pocket. He also has to remove his watch, which is considered a safety hazard because the glass face could break and fall onto his tomatoes.Five government inspectors have visited his farm on the outskirts of Ottawa so far this year, including one unannounced inspection to test his broccoli field for bugs that are invading the area.Terauds, who has been selling fresh produce for 26 years, was quoted as saying, "The rules are ridiculous. They're extremely strict to the point of ridiculous."Yet, only a small fraction of the billions worth of fruits and vegetables that are imported into Canada every year from other countries, including those that may have lower safety standards, are ever inspected by the government -- creating, what the story says is a double standard that frustrates Canadian producers and may put consumers at risk.With news of tainted food, counterfeit products and bacteria-laden produce dominating the headlines in recent months, many Canadian farmers say they're fed up with having to play by the government's strict rules while foreign producers are allowed to dump cheap, low-quality -- and sometimes, even dangerous -- goods on the Canadian market without being inspected or having to prove their operations are safe.Terauds was further quoted as saying, "I think the aspect of it that is unfair is they rely on the other government and other people that are importing food into Canada to comply with universal safety requirements. Are they doing it? Nobody knows. Obviously, some groups aren't. The Chinese come to mind right away."Canada's farming industry says it doesn't make sense that domestic growers must comply with strict standards and safety regulations while a majority of food imports from countries that may have inferior standards or are more likely to have unhygienic growing practices is never inspected.Heather Gale, food safety co-ordinator at the Canadian Horticultural Council, was quoted as saying, "The perspective that our members take is that the food safety standards that are demanded of Canadian suppliers should apply equally to any products coming into Canada."Grocery stores in Canada depend heavily on the federal government to ensure products coming into the country are safe (what about those from inside the country? - dp)John Scott, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, was quoted as saying, "If it's coming from offshore, we have to rely on the science-based standards of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the work they do. The retailer themselves can't certify that a product coming in from wherever isn't safe."The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, responsible for regulating food imports, says it is struggling to handle the onslaught of foreign products. The increasing presence of foreign products has created enormous new challenges in making sure food is safe -- and dealing with problems once they arise.Rene Cardinal, acting national manager for the CFIA's fresh fruit and vegetable program was quoted as saying, "The proportion is different. If a small farm has problems in terms of their food safety system, the farm will call it an outbreak but it will be localized and may go unnoticed as opposed to a big farm that produces 10 times as much, if not 20 times as much produce as the small farms and will contaminate more people."The story says that the CFIA rarely sends anyone to check operations in foreign countries to see if they're safe and clean, except when there is a problem or outbreak of food-borne illness Another reality is that Canada imports food from countries that may have less stringent standards and regulations, which increases the risk to the public (what are those stringent Canadian standards? -- dp)Cardinal was further quoted as saying, "You have imported produce all over the place. Some developed countries may not have the same hygiene system in place that we do have. These are the contributing factors."The story goes on to say that Canadian farmers say the best way consumers can ensure they're eating safe food is to purchase it directly from the grower, rather than buying products from an industrial farm where the sheer size and scope of operations makes it difficult to catch problems with the food supply.Terauds was quoted as saying, "I know if they're sick that morning. I know if they're going to wash their hands after they've gone to the washroom and all those nice other things. If you've got 250 people working for you like a lot of these big places do, how do you know who's doing what? Are you going to follow everyone in to the can? You can't do it."

New poll question: Should United and PMA merge?

I have a new poll question this week, and you will find it on the right hand side of the blog, near the top. Results from the last poll can be found here.

As with the last poll, you have a week to vote. My wordsmithing of the unscientific survey may leave something to be desired, but I hoped to provide what I thought were the obvious options to the poll question.

Tooting their horn

Posting from North Richland Hills, Texas this a.m.

As I was trying to sift through my inbox this morning, I noted that the Customs and Border Patrol is getting proactive about announcing their successful pest exclusion efforts. I don't recall previous press releases describing in blow by blow detail their successes at the border. Perhaps the effort by some members of Congress and much of the U.S. produce grower community to move invasive pest border inspectors back to the USDA from DHS is spurring a greater PR effort.

Here is what arrived just in the past 24 hours:

MIAMI – CBP agriculture specialists were conducting an inspection of a cargo container with a shipment of tiles from Spain, when they discovered an adult Eurygaster sp, .better known as a Sunn Pest, inside the container arriving at the Port of Miami.

The pest was captured by a CBP agriculture specialist July 24 and sent to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Miami Inspection Station. Scientists there identified the pest as an adult Sunn Pest. The container with its contents was safeguarded and transported to a USDA quarantine station for treatment.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is responsible for ensuring that no intruders enter the United States undetected, including intruders that threaten U.S. agriculture.

The Sunn Pest is well known as a serious limiting factor for production of wheat grain from southern Europe and North Africa to eastern Europe and the Near and Middle East. Insect-damaged wheat contains a protease enzyme, which degrades the gluten protein and causes rapid relaxation of dough and results in the production of bread with poor volume and texture.

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LOS ANGELES---The U.S. avoided the introduction of a dangerous new pest when alert U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agriculture specialists at Los Angeles International Airport intercepted mealy bugs as well as two other foreign pests that hitched rides on imported plants and fresh cut flowers from Guatemala and Australia.

The mealy bug attacks plants, especially citrus trees.

Director of Los Angeles Field Operations for Customs and Border Protection Kevin Weeks said, “These pests have never been seen in the Continental United States. CBP agriculture specialists provide a significant service to our country by protecting our borders from not only threats to our agriculture, but also chemical and biological terrorism.”


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The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service on August 3 notified U.S. Customs and Border Protection that Foot and Mouth Disease has been diagnosed in cattle in the United Kingdom.

Foot and Mouth Disease is a highly contagious, viral disease of cattle, swine and other cloven-hoofed animals, such as goats and sheep. The virus is not transmitted from animals to humans, but does have serious implications for livestock in any country where the disease is detected.
CBP is firmly committed to preventing the introduction into the U.S. of Foot and Mouth Disease. In response to the outbreak in the U.K., CBP is taking the following actions

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SANTA TERESA, NEW MEXICO – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers performing anti-terror inspections at the Santa Teresa port of entry made a large seizure of prohibited avocados and pork meat Tuesday night. CBP officers seized 38 pounds of undeclared avocados and 39 pounds or pork while performing inspections at the southern New Mexico border crossing.

The seizure was made at about 8:15 p.m. when a vehicle towing a small trailer entered the facility from Mexico. CBP officers performed a primary inspection of the vehicle and received a negative declaration from the driver. CBP officers then initiated a secondary search of the vehicle and trailer and discovered several boxes containing the prohibited avocados and pork.




I was pleased to see a couple of more members join the Fresh Produce Industry Discussion Group during the past day. Here are some new posts from the group today:

Green farmers face ruin in Africa Luis posts story that notes organic growers in Africa face a Western obsession with food miles:
But the Soil Association, which certifies about 80 per cent of organic produce in Britain, has threatened to take away the organic certification from farms in East Africa because their produce is transported to Europe by air, contributing to global warming.

Failure in FDA import alert system Big Apple posts link to AP story about failures in FDA's import alert system relating to Chinese seafood imports.


Changes to peach and nectarine marketing order assessment rate Big Apple posts FR final rule that gives notice of huge drop in assessment rate for nectarine and peach marketing orders. From today's rule (effective Aug. 10). This is a wild swing in the assessment rate and one wonders if financial pressures on the industry played a role in the belt tightening.
From the summary:


This rule decreases the assessment rates established for the Nectarine Administrative Committee and the Peach Commodity Committee (committees) for the 2007-08 and subsequent fiscal periods from $0.21 to $0.06 per 25-pound container or container equivalent of nectarines and peaches handled. The committees locally administer the marketing orders that regulate the handling of nectarines and peaches grown in California. Assessments upon nectarine and peach handlers are used by the committees to fund reasonable and necessary expenses of the programs. The fiscal period runs from March 1 through the last day of February. The assessment rates will remain in effect indefinitely unless modified, suspended, or terminated.