Vol. 139, No. 19 — September 21, 2005

Registration
SOR/2005-253 August 31, 2005

MEAT INSPECTION ACT

Regulations Amending the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990

P.C. 2005-1493 August 31, 2005

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, pursuant to section 20 (see footnote a) of the Meat Inspection Act (see footnote b), hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE MEAT INSPECTION REGULATIONS, 1990

AMENDMENTS

1. (1) The portion of paragraph (a) of the definition "dress" in subsection 2(1) of the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990 (see footnote 1) before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

(a) in respect of a slaughtered food animal other than a pig, bird or goat

(2) Subparagraph (a)(iii) of the definition "dress" in subsection 2(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(3) The definition "dress" in subsection 2(1) of the Regulations is amended by striking out the word "and" at the end of paragraph (d), by adding the word "and" at the end of paragraph (c) and by repealing paragraph (e).

2. Subsection 38(2) of the Regulations is repealed.

3. Section 47 of the Regulations is repealed.

4. Section 84 of the Regulations is repealed.

COMING INTO FORCE

5. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Description

The Meat Inspection Act (the Act) enables the Government of Canada to regulate the safety and quality of meat products imported into Canada or produced in federally registered establishments for export or interprovincial trade. Pursuant to this Act, the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990 (MIR) establish standards for meat products, specify requirements for licensing, registration, maintenance and operation of federally-registered meat establishments, establish packaging and labelling requirements and establish criteria for import and export of meat products.

In Canada, there are various endogenous hormone preparations (naturally produced by the animal) and two exogenous hormone preparations (synthetic: zeranol and trenbolone) which are licensed for use as implanted pellets for growth promotion in beef production. Hormonal Growth Promotants (HGPs) in any form have not been approved by Health Canada's Veterinary Drug Directorate (VDD) for use in calves intended for veal production, both milk fed (light, white) veal and grain fed (heavy, red) veal. In the absence of any application for the approval of these products in calves intended for veal production, VDD has not evaluated the potential impact on human and animal health. HGPs approved for use in beef calves (animals destined to be slaughtered as beef) have on their label "Cautions" or "Contraindications" statements advising that these products are not to be used in calves intended for veal production. Implants are normally placed below the skin on the dorsal (top) surface of the ear and consist of multiple cylindrical shaped pellets approximately 1/8 inch in diameter and length; the colour is normally white.

VDD has requested that manufacturers of HGPs modify the warning part of the label of their products to indicate clearly that these products should not be used in calves that may be slaughtered for veal production. Veal is defined as the meat of a bovine animal having the maturity characteristics set out in Schedule I to Part IV of the Livestock and Poultry Carcass Grading Regulations, and a warm carcass weight of less than 205 kg with the hide on, or less than 180 kg with the hide off.

There are currently 18 establishments registered under the MIR involved in the slaughter of veal calves. In the Spring of 2004, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) contacted the veterinarians in charge of these establishments to evaluate the potential impact of this proposed regulatory amendment. The veterinarians advised that a majority of the registered establishments were already commercializing veal carcasses without the hide.

Effective June 14, 2004, the CFIA implemented a policy requiring the mandatory removal of hide from all veal carcasses in order to facilitate the efficient inspection of carcasses for the presence of implants (i.e. HGP).

This regulatory amendment removes, from the MIR, those provisions which allow the dressing of the veal carcasses with the hide on as well as those provisions restricting shipment of veal carcasses with hide on to export or movement to another registered establishment.

Alternatives

Option 1 - Status Quo

As the use of HGP is not permitted in calves destined for veal production, CFIA implemented on June 14, 2004 a policy requiring the mandatory removal of hides from the veal carcasses at the time of slaughter to allow for adequate inspection for the presence of implants in order to certify the carcass was or was not treated with HGP. The current MIR provisions do not support the policy. The obsolete provisions in the MIR must be removed in order to provide regulatory support for the policy.

Option 2 - Repeal provisions (preferred Option)

The removal of the hide-on exemption for calf carcasses will facilitate the efficient inspection of a veal carcass for the presence of implants (i.e. HGP) in areas other than the ear.

Benefits and Costs

These amendments will positively affect the safety and trade of meat products prepared in registered establishments by removing the hide from carcasses destined for veal production. In 2004, a majority of registered establishments were already commercializing veal carcasses without the hide. Since June 14, 2004, CFIA has been implementing a policy to make mandatory the dressing of all veal without hide for sanitary reasons and to allow a complete inspection of the carcasses for the presence of implants.

The implementation of this amendment would result in minimal costs to industry and no costs to the Government.

Consultation

In an advisory letter dated May 21, 2004, the VDD and the CFIA informed stakeholders that HGPs in any form have not been approved in Canada for use in calves intended for veal production.

On August 13, 2004, CFIA sent a letter to all stakeholders, including all veal abattoirs inspected by CFIA, informing them of the proposed amendments to the MIR, removing those provisions which allow the dressing of veal carcasses with the hide on.

The following interested parties have been consulted on the proposed amendment: all relevant senior CFIA officials, all Provincial Ministries of Agriculture; all the veal abattoirs and veal processing establishments inspected by the CFIA [including the provincial establishments under CFIA inspection (domestic plants)]; USDA, FSIS, Canadian Meat Council, Food Processors of Canada, Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters, Beef Information Centre, Canadian Cattlemen's Association, Ontario Veal Association, Ontario Cattleman Association, la Fédération des producteurs de bovins du Québec, and la Filière veau lourd du Québec.

Comments received either supported or accepted the proposed amendment to remove the exemption for the dressing of hide-on veal carcasses.

Québec and Ontario veal producers' associations are expecting uniform delivery of inspection to verify compliance with the use of HGP. Both these associations are in favour of removing from the MIR the exemption permitting hide-on dressing of veal carcasses. The Ontario Veal Association is already requiring that veal produced under their quality assurance program be dressed without the hide.

The Regulation was pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on April 9, 2005 for a 30-day comment period. One comment was received in support of the amendment.

Compliance and Enforcement

No major changes will occur in the application or enforcement of the Regulations as a result of this amendment. Inspection services will be provided and the MIR will be enforced in the usual manner.

The CFIA will ensure compliance by continuing to inspect veal carcasses at levels commensurate with the health and safety of the product. There will be no need to institute new compliance regimes.

Contact

Dr. Bill Anderson
Director
Food of Animal Origin Division
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
159 Cleopatra Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0Y9
Telephone: (613) 225-2342 ext. 7081 or (613) 221-7081
FAX: (613) 228-6636
E-mail: andersonw@inspection.gc.ca

Footnote a

S.C. 1993, c. 44, s. 184

Footnote b

R.S., c. 25 (1st Supp.)

Footnote 1

SOR/90-288

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