. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/CAN/86
22 May 2000
(00-2071)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English/
French
NOTIFICATION
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  CANADA
If applicable, name of local government involved:           
2. Agency responsible:  Canadian Food Inspection Agency
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where
applicable): Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or
practicable:  Meat products (poultry)
4. Title and number of pages of the notified document:  Proposed Amendment to the Meat
Inspection Regulations, 1990 (pages 1510-1529)
5. Description of content: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has proposed an
amendment to the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990  that will strengthen Canada’s poultry
and meat inspection programs in federally registered establishments by:
(1) requiring that all poultry flocks destined for slaughter in Canada's federally
registered poultry slaughter establishments be accompanied by flock information
documents;
(2) restructuring Canada's poultry inspection regime into a three-tiered system, which
progressively places more responsibility and accountability on operators of
registered establishments for the safety and quality of the poultry they process. At
the minimum, processors must have traditional government carcass-by-carcass
inspection, but have the option to implement the Canadian Poultry Inspection
Program (CPIP) or the Modernized Poultry Inspection Program (MPIP);
(3) requiring that operators of registered establishments wishing to implement MPIP
also implement HACCP;
(4) providing for ante-mortem examination of live birds and subsequent post-mortem
examination by trained industry detectors, and ensuring that all plant quality control
personnel have the requisite knowledge, skill, and competence to perform their
ante-and post-mortem examination responsibilities;
(5) requiring that operators of registered establishments operating under CPIP or MPIP
meet acceptable finished product quality and safety standards for processed poultrycarcasses, and that all ingredients, packaging and labelling meet the requirements of
the Act.
Under CPIP, trained plant employees are responsible for ensuring examination of the cavity
of each and every poultry carcass, in order to remove from the processing line, any carcass
or parts of a carcass when specified defects are found in the cavity.  CFIA inspectors stillinspect the exterior and viscera of each and every poultry carcass on the evisceration line,G/SPS/N/CAN/86
Page 2
requiring the removal of any carcass or parts that exhibit visceral or exterior carcass defects,
and in respect to cavity detection, continuously monitor and measure the operator’s
performance.
Under MPIP, trained plant employees are responsible for the examination of all poultry
carcasses and parts thereof (carcass exterior, cavities and viscera) and removing any carcass
with specified defects from the evisceration line for subsequent presentation to an official
veterinarian for detailed inspection and eventual disposition.  Inspectors no longer inspecteach and every poultry carcass, or parts thereof, but are responsible for continuously
monitoring the operator’s performance by focusing attention on defect-detectors’
performance, which is a component of the establishment’s HACCP Plan.
Following these amendments to the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990 , the statement on
CFIA’s export certificates to the effect that “the meat products ...(have been) derived from
food animals that received antemortem and postmortem veterinary inspection at the time of
slaughter...” will reflect the following:
(a) Antemortem veterinary inspection means in respect of a chicken, duck, goose,
guinea fowl, partridge, pheasant, pigeon, quail or turkey, that the bird was examined
by the operator of a registered establishment under the supervision of an official
veterinarian, or that the food animal (including a bird) was inspected by an
inspector under the supervision of an official veterinarian.
(b) Postmortem veterinary inspection means in respect of a chicken, duck, goose,
guinea fowl, partridge, pheasant, pigeon, quail or turkey, that the carcass, blood or
parts of the carcass of the bird were examined by the operator under the supervision
of an official veterinarian, or that the carcass, blood or parts of the carcass of the
food animal (including a bird) were inspected by an inspector under the supervisionof an official veterinarian.
6. Objective and rationale: [  X ] food safety,  [     ] animal health,  [     ] plant protection,
[    ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [     ] protect territory from
other damage from pests           
7. An international standard, guideline or recommendation does not exist [  X ].
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:
8. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Canada Gazette,
Part I, 13 May 2000 (Available in English and French)
9. Proposed date of adoption:  Not stated.
10. Proposed date of entry into force:  Not stated.
11. Final date for comments:  12 July 2000
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [     ] National notification
authority, [  X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if
available) of other body:           
12. Texts available from: [     ] National notification authority, [  X ] National enquiry point
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: