Question Period Note: Boat to Plate Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans Report

What is the Government doing in response to the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans Report on Fish and Seafood Traceability and Labelling?

• The Government recognizes that it is important for Canadians to have confidence that the fish and seafood they eat is safe, sustainable and responsibly harvested.
• Fish and seafood traceability supports a sustainable and well-managed fishery and is a tool in the prevention of Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing (IUU).
• The Government thanks the Committee for its comprehensive and constructive report; the Government Response will be tabled in the fall of 2022.

• A Government Response MC was developed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), with support from Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Agriculture and Agrifoods Canada (AAFC) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). The Government Response will be tabled in Parliament by October 13, 2022.
• On June 15, 2022, the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans (FOPO) presented a report on Traceability And Labelling Of Fish And Seafood Products in the House of Commons. The report summarized the findings of a study conducted by the Committee of the current regulatory regime for traceability and labelling of fish and seafood products in Canada, identifying several areas for improvement to avoid the mislabelling of imported fish and seafood products, including the potential socio-economic, environmental and food safety impacts of such a system.
• The Report made 13 recommendations regarding the implementation of a boat-to-plate traceability and labelling program to help protect consumers, promote the health of our fishing industry, safeguard international obligations, and build a blue economy.
• While the issues identified in this study are mostly consistent with what was found during the CFIA/DFO consultations last year, this report strongly recommends the development of a traceability and labelling program as the solution to address these issues.
• From a DFO perspective, the key recommendations were that the Government of Canada:
• implement a seafood traceability and labelling system that protects Canadian supply chains from seafood of illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) harvest and harvest utilizing exploited workers.
• require catch documentation to identify the origin and verify the legality of all seafood products imported nationally.
• While work is underway to enhance traceability and labelling of fish and seafood products in Canada, the Government assesses that imposing changes at this time would extend beyond existing legislation, regulations, policies or programs, and the full implementation of some of the recommendations in the Report would require significant policy and regulatory framework changes and resources.

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