Question Period Note: LIVESTOCK TRACEABILITY

Q1 – What is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency doing to address the concerns of livestock industry with the proposed regulations? Q2 – What is this Government doing to address the concerns of the impact of the proposed regulations on Canadian fairs and exhibitions? Q3 – When will the final livestock traceability regulations be published? Q4 - Have Indigenous groups been made aware of the livestock traceability proposal and have they been provided an opportunity to have their concerns heard?

R.1 - Livestock traceability is an important and effective tool for the protection of animal health, public health and food safety. It also helps limit the financial impact on industry when an outbreak occurs.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is considering all comments received during the formal consultation. It will also continue to work with provinces and territories and the Canadian livestock industry. This includes collaborating with the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions, to ensure the final regulations can achieve their objectives while limiting burden on stakeholders. R.2 - Risk of spreading disease is high when animals of different species, breeds, and ages are brought together from various locations and backgrounds at one site, like a fair or an exhibition.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency understands that the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions, as well as local and regional fairs, acknowledge the importance of livestock traceability, but have raised concerns about their capacity to tag and track animals. They consider this activity to be the responsibility of producers who bring animals to these sites.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has considered all positions on this issue and has engaged with the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions to find a path forward that works for all. R.3 - The proposed amendments were pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on March 18, 2023. The public comment period closed on June 16, 2023.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency published a “What We Heard Report” on February 12, 2024.
It is anticipated that the final livestock traceability amendments will be published in early 2025 and will come into force in 2026.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency continues to engage with all livestock stakeholder groups and will provide additional guidance and information sessions to support stakeholders as the new regulations are implemented. R.4 - In addition to the open consultation on the proposed regulations, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has worked to engage with Indigenous peoples involved with livestock. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will consider all comments received on the current livestock traceability proposal as they work to finalize the regulations.

Animal traceability is the ability to follow an animal through all stages of its life, with the objective of mitigating the impact from a disease outbreak or food safety issue.
The Health of Animals Regulations already sets out requirements for the identification of bison, cattle, sheep and pigs, and requires reporting on the movement of pigs.
The draft amendments to the Health of Animals Regulations (Identification and Traceability) are proposed to help fill in gaps in Canada’s livestock traceability system that will make the system more effective and responsive to animal disease emergencies.
The proposed amendments seek to address gaps in Canada’s system in the following manner:
• adding goats and farmed cervids (such as deer and elk) to national traceability requirements. These species would need to be identified and their events (for example, movement, death) would need to be reported.
• shortening the event reporting time requirement to 7 days (from 30 to 60 days), bringing alignment between all regulated species
• introducing the requirement for the identification of livestock premises through provincial premises ID programs
• introducing event reporting requirements for cattle, bison, sheep, goats and farmed cervids. This would align with pigs and farmed wild boars which are already subject to such requirements.
Addressing these gaps will improve how the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), provinces and industry stakeholders respond to and recover from diseases. It will ensure species that share diseases (e.g., foot and mouth disease) all have traceability requirements so there will be no information gaps. In addition with new traceability requirements for goats and cervids, the ability to investigate and control outbreaks from diseases affecting those species will be much improved.
The CFIA has been working to update the requirements for livestock traceability under the Health of Animals Regulations for many years. On June 16, 2023, it completed a 90-day formal consultation on the proposed regulations. The proposal aims to ensure a balance between an effective and efficient response to animal health issues and the burden/impact on stakeholders.
The CFIA has reviewed and analyzed over 1,200 comments that were submitted during the consultation. The CFIA has taken these comments into consideration as it considers whether changes are required as part of the regulatory development process. As the Agency examines what changes may need to be made to the proposal, it will continue to engage with both the livestock industry, fairs and exhibitions and provinces and territories

• Tracking diseased and exposed animals is crucial for mitigating impacts to public health, the economy, and the environment. That is why the livestock traceability system is a priority for this government.

• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is proposing to update federal regulations to improve livestock traceability and address gaps in the current system.

• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is considering all comments received on these proposed regulations during the formal Canada Gazette consultation process.