Washington and Ottawa—The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has signed an arrangement with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada recognizing each other’s food safety systems as comparable to each other.
Among the articles excluded from the scope of this arrangement: Grade A milk and Grade A milk products.
Systems recognition involves reviewing a foreign country’s domestic food safety regulatory system to determine if it has legal authorities and regulatory tools that together provide public health outcomes comparable to those provided by FDA, FDA explained. Domestic systems provide the baseline level of public health protection that helps assure the safety of exported foods from that country.
“Systems recognition establishes a framework for regulatory cooperation in a variety of areas that range from scientific collaboration to outbreak response. This arrangement is based on reciprocal food safety systems assessments,” said Michael Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine. “The arrangement offers benefits to each country and will consider the oversight of the partner country when prioritizing inspectional activities.”
Also, this arrangement is part of the US-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council in which the countries intend to better align their food safety regulatory systems, reduce unnecessary duplication, enhance information sharing, and to the extent possible, leverage resources so that the agencies can better meet their public health objectives, Taylor added.
FDA, working with the CFIA and Health Canada, conducted a systems recognition review and assessment using the International Comparability Assessment Tool (ICAT). The process includes a comprehensive review of key elements of the country’s national food safety control system such as its relevant laws and regulations, inspection programs, response to food-related illness and outbreaks, compliance and enforcement and laboratory support. Systems recognition not required in order for a country to export foods to the US.
This is the second time FDA has recognized a foreign food safety system as comparable, the first being New Zealand. A similar system recognition process is underway between FDA and Australia and the European Commission.
