Advantage Good Agricultural Practices Manual

6.1 Receiving Inputs

Damaged, unapproved or wrong inputs received at the farm may cause contamination of the facility or the food.

This Good Agricultural Practice applies to:

All farms.

Examples of inputs: Gasoline, lubricants, paint, detergents and cleaning chemicals, bedding, feed (forages, grains and feed byproducts), seed, mulch, fertilizers, building materials, machinery, parts, tools, pesticides and animal health products.

What needs to be done

Receive inputs as ordered, assess them for evidence of food safety hazards (e.g. damage, pest infestation, tampering). Where necessary, make sure they are authorized for an intended commodity use in Canada.

How to do it

Consider providing suppliers with a site map of the farm so that inputs are delivered to the desired area.

Perform a visual inspection upon receipt to ensure received inputs:

• Are those ordered
• Are from the intended supplier
• Have intact product seals and have no evidence of contamination,tampering, spoilage, deterioration or damage
• Have a product registration number (e.g. label bearing a registration number or drug identification number [DIN]), if necessary, for the intended purpose and specific for that commodity
• Have not passed their expiry date or are likely to be used up prior to the expiry date
• Are at the appropriate temperature (if applicable)
  

Sign and date invoices, the bill of lading or the packing slip so that inputs are verified at the time of receipt.

Keep all product inserts as a reference for proper storage and use requirements.

Ideally, do not accept or unload damaged or rejected materials. In the event that unacceptable material is received, label the item and/or segregate it to prevent contamination until it can be returned to supplier or disposed of by a method that will not cause a food safety hazard. For more information, refer to 6.4 Storage and Disposal of Farm Wastes in this manual.

Make sure all received feed is approved for use in livestock and poultry. Consult your feed supplier for more details.

Records to keep

Receipts, invoices, bills of lading and/or packing slips.

Optional: chemical inventory containing name of product received, date received and quantity (and, if necessary, PCP/DIN# and expiry date).

Did you know?

Invoices, a bill of lading or a packing slip can contain useful information such as:

• Supplier information
• Lot numbers
• Product description
• Quantity received

These can help you track and trace inputs used during food production on your farm.

If you need an audit

Be prepared for the auditor to:

Review your receipts, invoices, bills of lading, packing slip records or inventory lists

Laws and regulations that apply

All inputs, including pesticides and animal health products, received on-farm should be approved under various federal and provincial laws and not be prohibited under these laws or regulations made under them (e.g. control products within the Pest Control Products Act (Canada), R.S. 1985, c. P-9; Food and Drugs Act (Canada), R.S. 1985, c. F-27; Feeds Act (Canada), R.S. 1985, c. F-9; Fertilizers Act (Canada), R.S. 1985, c. F-10; Hazardous? Products Act (Canada), R.S. 1985, c. H-3).

The Livestock Medicines Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L. 23 and Regulation R.R.O., Reg. 730 regulates what livestock medicines can legally be sold to producers in Ontario and sets out requirements for record keeping and other measures, but there are no specific requirements on producers.

Other legislation to be aware of

Workers should be provided with adequate information on safe handling for all products in the workplace. Although not directly related to food safety, the safe handling of chemicals can prevent cross-contamination and have other food safety benefits (Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1990, c.O.1, s. 26) [as of June 30, 2006 - see O. Reg. 414/05 Farming Operations].

Proceed to 6.2 General Storage