进口食品安检: CFIA新规定如何影响消费者(四)

由于公众越来越关注进口食品的安全问题，CIFA建议修改并强化进口农产品的许可要求。虽然提议的修订案已经进入寻求公众咨询阶段，据推测一些来自华裔社区的进口商尚未对此进程给入足够的重视并积极参与。

Amid public concerns over safety of imported food products, the CFIA has proposed changes to enhance the licensing requirements for the imported agricultural products. However, with the consultations on the proposed amendments underway, it is speculated that some importers from the Chinese community may not have committed themselves or got involved in the process.


读者欲参照前文可点击:
For the previous article in this series, please visit:
http://chinesenewsgroup.com/news/41438
http://chinesenewsgroup.com/news/41490
http://chinesenewsgroup.com/news/41638

在上一篇文章中，我们谈了加拿大食品检验局的检验通知程序，检验要求和整改措施。除了鱼类产品进口许可证持有商，其他普通食品进口商对上述所有或大部分规定都非常陌生。

In our last article in this series, we dealt with the process for notifying CFIA for inspection, the inspection requirements and corrective actions. All or most of these activities will be new to importers for regular foodstuffs other than Fish Product license holders.


这些有可能在现行做法之上“添加”的新规将会令许多进口商在初期阶段会面临艰难的调整过程。与此同时，其也会淘汰一些实力不够的进口商，因为如果他们不进一步投入所需的资金和人力资源，就根本无法满足新规要求。

These possible “additional” requirements to current practices will bring hardships and adjustments initially. It would also serve to eliminate the smaller importers as they will not be able to comply with the new requirement without further injection of capital and human resources to meet them.


在加拿大食品检验局实施新规后，进口商可能还需要应对在鱼类产品进口许可证中早已涵盖的“健康和安全调查”项目。但是进口商首先必须设立销售产品追溯系统才能满足相关调查要求。实际上，这个调查系统是为确认和“召回”各级分销商的产品做准备。

One other aspect of CFIA requirements that importers may have to handle is the “Health and Safety Investigations” already instituted under the Fish Import licenses.  Before the importers can comply with this, they must first establish a system of proper traceability of items sold. The investigation system is in effect a precursor to the identification and “recall” of items at all levels of distribution.


进口商必须保存所有有关被检验产品来源的可检索记录——从加拿大边境服务局（CBSA）发放的交易编号开始，直至相关产品的最终买家及销售时间。

Importers will have to keep retrievable records as to where an item under investigation comes from - starting with the transaction number at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and follow through to who bought the item and when it was sold.


但是，进口商只有在收到有关产品安全的投诉和质疑信息时，才会面对“健康和安全调查”。这些质询可能来自消费者、存疑的商家，甚至是加拿大食品检验局本身。如果进口商通过调查确认：1)所涉产品的确是由进口商进口；2)相关投诉或质疑信息涉及实际或潜在的疾病或危害；那进口商收到的投诉和质疑信息即被认为有效的投诉。

The “Health and Safety Investigations” are initiated when complaints and information questioning the safety of a product are received by the importer. Sources of these inquiries may come from consumers, merchants suspecting problems, or even CFIA itself. Complaints and information received are deemed valid if the importer has determined through the investigation that:
1) The involved item(s) were indeed imported by the importer. 2) Complaint or information concerns a real or potential illness or injury.


进口商必须在经对健康和安全问题确认后24小时内，对投诉进行记录、调查并通知加拿大食品检验局。食品检验局将会据此作出决定，并采取必要措施保障公众安全。

The importer must document and investigate and notify CFIA of a confirmed health and safety issue within 24 hours of its confirmation. This will allow CFIA to determine and take necessary actions to effect the protection of public safety.


此举同样将会令相关体系更加规范，并且需要进口商承担采取行动进行调查的责任。最终如果实施召回，那么从进口商的分销商处购买相关产品的商家必须将所有产品从超市下架。这也就是为什么进口商必须保存详细销售记录的原因。

Once again, this will formalize the system and put the onus on the importer to take action on their own to start any investigations. Ultimately, merchants who purchased the items downstream of the importer will have to remove items from their shelves if a recall is initiated. This is why the importers must keep meticulous records on their sales.


新的“进口食品部门产品管理条例”已经被纳入政府的先锋监管计划。该项提议的新规将会确定进口农产品的许可要求，目前相关产品目前尚不受加拿大食品检验局特定产品管理条例的监管。

The new “Imported Food Sector Product Regulations” was identified in the Government–wide Forward Regulatory Plans. This proposed new regulation would establish licensing requirements for the importation of agricultural products not regulated under CFIA commodity-specific regulations.


目前，提议的修订案已经开始进入咨询阶段。但笔者并不能确定华社进口商是否广泛参与相关进程。不过根据以往的经验，中国进口商很可能并未充分参与或是根本未曾参与相关咨询，而其中的原因可能在于他们的语言障碍，或是他们未意识到解新规将对他们的商业运营产生重要影响。

Consultations on the proposed amendments have already been conducted. Whether the Chinese importers were involved extensively in this process cannot be determined by this writer. Based on past experience, it is likely that the input from that sector is probably inadequate or that they are totally uninvolved in the consultation process due to their language barriers, or the fact that they are unable to realize its significant impact on their business bottom line.


在下一篇文章中，我们将尝试探讨提议新规所涉的产品范围。

We will attempt to look into the scope of items that will be covered by this new proposed regulation in the next article.