“The regulatory requirement to be licensed and have a documented PCP in place may be new to some,” Grant says, “but generally speaking industry has had in place, or has been moving toward, third-party food safety certification (e.g. certification to a GFSI [Global Food-Safety Initiative] benchmarked scheme) or company specific food safety audits for many years.”
For some time, Grant says, companies both inside and outside of Canada have been gradually embracing third-party certification in the form of the GFSI program.
“In Canada, for the previously federally ‘registered’ sector as well as those in the previously ‘non-registered’ sector who are certified to GFSI benchmarked scheme, there will be little change other than the documentation of their process(es) for complying with consumer protection/market fairness requirements. Something that the majority will have in place but may not have formally documented as part of written plan.”
These changes, Grant says, build on an existing foundation, but he notes that this process is ongoing and continues to expand.
“Many of Canada’s trading partners have modernized, or are in the process of modernizing, their regulations (e.g. U.S. FSMA),” he says. “It is anticipated that food safety regulations, both domestically and internationally, will continue to evolve as new science becomes available.”
Prince, too, is confident the SFCR will have a ripple-effect on food safety approaches worldwide.
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