Advantage Good Agricultural
Practices Manual
7.1 Traceability and Recall
Without
a full-chain traceability system, product recalls can be slowed down and products
posing a food safety hazard may remain in the food chain.
This Good Agricultural
Practice applies to:
All farms.
What needs to be done
Identify
and record all products and inputs throughout the production process so that they
can be traced backward to the original supplier and forward to the next step in
the supply chain as part of a full-chain traceability system.
How to do
it
Identify the premises
Consider including the following information
for premises identification:
- Geo-coordinates or legal land description
(parcel identification number)
- Commodities produced
- Owner information
(name, phone number)
- Contact information (name, phone number)
Identify the products
Track inputs and incoming materials as they are
received onto the farm and used during production. Maintain records of input/product
inventories; processes such as animal health product use, pesticide use and nutrient
application; and harvest information.
Record-keeping requirements are listed
in each appropriate good? agricultural practice in this manual.
Identify
all food, livestock and poultry or label them with information that accurately
represents the product.
Record movement
Make sure you can share
information on food, livestock and poultry with the next level in the food supply
chain where requested.
Link identification of outputs to the premises identification
where they were produced.
Preparing for a recall
Identify and record
contact information for local regulatory authorities, veterinarians, suppliers/buyers,
commodity organizations and emergency? personnel in case of recall.
Be prepared
to have the necessary information on hand to give to? authorities in the event
of a recall.
Responding to a recall
Notify the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
If a problem has been identified within your
operation and a recall needs to be initiated, one of your first steps will be
to notify the CFIA immediately.
When you call, you will need to provide
CFIA with the following information:
- A detailed description of the
nature of the problem
- The name, product description, brand, size and lot
code(s) affected
- Details of complaints received and any illnesses reported
- The
distribution of the product (local or national)
- When the product was distributed
(specific dates)
- Label(s) of the product(s) that may be recalled
- The
name of your operation and contact information of the person who will be dealing
with the CFIA
- The name and telephone number(s) for your operation's after-hours
contact
Provide as much detail as possible so that the recall is
controlled and contained
Know how much product has been produced and
how much has been shipped from your operation.
Have the names, contact information
and the quantity shipped to each buyer, so that you can notify your buyers of
the situation.
For more details on product
recall, please refer to the CFIA
website. 
Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) recall notification
Ontario: 416-973-8724
Terms used in this
Good Agricultural Practice
Lot number: A
number or code assigned to uniquely represent a batch or group of inputs, products,
animals, crops and/or outputs that have been produced and/or processed or packaged
under similar circumstances.
Premises: A parcel of
land associated with a legal description or geo-referenced co-ordinates on which,
or on any part of which, animals and/or crops are kept, grown, assembled and/or
disposed of.
Traceability: The ability to trace the
use, history, application or location of an item or activity by means of recorded
information.
Records to keep
Livestock
- Keep complete
identification records for livestock and poultry? (e.g. individual or group identification).
- Use
commodity-approved identification systems for livestock and poultry.
- Record
and keep on file the following documentation for all livestock and poultry arriving
at and leaving the farm:
- Producer name, farm name and/or premises identification
- Product
description and quantity
- Livestock and poultry identification
- Transporter/buyer
- Date
of shipment
Note: The record requirements above can also
be listed in and verified from a trucking manifest.
Fruit, vegetables
and field crops
- Keep information surrounding the harvesting of each
crop, including:
- Lot number of product harvested
- Harvest/packing
dates
- Specific field harvested
- Person(s) who harvested/packaged
the product, if applicable
- Temporary storage unit, if applicable
- Record
and keep on file the following documentation for food arriving at and leaving
the farm:
- Producer name, farm name and/or premises identification
- Product
description, quantity and unit of measure
- Lot number
- Transporter/buyer
- Date
of shipment
Note: The record requirements above can also
be listed on receiving and shipping documents such as an invoice or bill of lading.
Did you know?
Premises identification is an important building
block for a number of different business applications including a livestock and
crop traceability system, emergency management tools, food quality systems, and
other on-farm activities. For both crops and livestock, it is a critical element
of an effective emergency response resulting from a food safety concern or plant/animal
disease outbreak.
Did you know?
For beef/dairy cattle, sheep
and bison, the Health of Animals Regulations states that all animals leaving the
herd of origin must have an approved tag in the ear and that no person can remove
or alter a tag in any way from an animal or deadstock. National identification
programs for other species (e.g. pork, poultry and goats) are currently being
developed.
If you need an audit
Be prepared for
the auditor to review:
- Production and shipping records
- Your
readiness for a recall
References for national traceability
initiatives
Laws and regulations that apply
A
number of laws require producers of certain commodities to register their name,
address and location. For example, the Bees Act, s. 8 requires beekeepers
to post their name and address on any apiaries they own; the General Regulations
R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 57, s. 1 (1) requires beekeepers who have bees to register
the name, municipal address and telephone number of the owner of the land where
each apiary is located and the number of apiaries, and s. 3 requires that
records be kept and filed on the sale of any bees.
The Food Safety
and Quality Act, 2001 Meat Regulations, O. Reg. 31/05, s. 58 (1)-(3) requires
that persons who deliver food animals to a provincial slaughter plant provide
the name and address of the owner or seller of the animals or consignee and the
species and classes of animals. Poultry must also be accompanied by on-farm health
records (a flock information form) that include information on mortality rate,
veterinary services, husbandry practices, number of birds and crates, and the
loading of the birds in the transport containers (ratites and birds that are custom-slaughtered
for the owner are exempt).
Certain livestock (or deadstock) must be individually
tagged as required by Health of Animals Act (Canada), 1990, c. 21, Health of
Animals Regulations, Part XV Animal Identification s.175-182. Cattle, sheep
and bison must have an approved identifier applied before leaving their farm of
origin.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has the power to order a
food recall for products regulated under acts that they administer that pose a
risk to public, animal or plant health (CFIA Act (Canada), 1997, c. 6, s. 19).
Certain commodities have specific requirements for marking, labelling and
identifying individual producer lots in a shipment. The Farm Products Grades
and Sales Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F. 8, s. 2 (1) 6 provides that the Minister
may make regulations as to how to identify individual producer lots in a shipment
for the purpose of grading. Fruits and Vegetables Regulation, R.R.O. 1990,
Reg. 378, s. 12 requires that the name and address of the producer be marked
on the package and master container. The Honey Regulation, R.R.O. 384, s. 6
requires that the name and address of the person who packed the honey be marked
on the container.
Federal labelling requirements for prepackaged foods
are set out in the Food and Drugs Act (Canada) 1985, R.S.C., c. F-27 and Regulations;
the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-38 and Regulations;
as well as in regulations under the Canada Agricultural Products Act, R.S.C.
1985, c. 20, 4th Supp; and Weights and Measures Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. W-6
that may apply to specific food items.
The Livestock and Livestock
Products Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. L. 20, Eggs Regulation, R.R.O., 1990, Reg. 724,
s. 22 requires that containers of eggs graded and packed by a producer shall
be marked with their name and address, and s. 5 (6) requires a bill of
lading for any eggs shipped or transported within Ontario that shows the name
and address of the consignor and consignee and the date of shipment. Ungraded
eggs for transport must be clearly identified by the first receiver for each producer
(s. 34).
Other legislation to be aware of
A number of
laws require those who deal with farmers to keep sales records. These include
the Livestock and Livestock Medicines Act, the Livestock Community Sales Act,
and the Veterinary Act and Regulations.
The Farm Registration and Farm
Organizations Funding Act 1993, S.O. 1993, c. 21, s. 2 and Regulation 723/93,
s. 2 require all Ontario farm businesses whose gross income equals or exceeds
$7,000 to file registration forms annually that include fax, e-mail, the number
of the home farm that emergency services use to locate it, number of employees,
type of crops, livestock or poultry raised, areas of land used and cultivated,
and top three revenue production items.
Proceed
to 7.2 Sorting and Packaging
