CFIA launches centralized access for agency permissions UPDATED

Thursday, May 15, 2014

by SUSAN MANN

The intent of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s creation of a Centre of Administration to be a single-window access for people applying to get agency permissions is good, says an agricultural industry spokesman.

And even though the centre has been open now since April 1, Ron Bonnett, Canadian Federation of Agriculture president, says they haven’t heard any feedback yet from farmers on how it’s going. But he wonders if the centre is staffed by a sufficient number of people to respond quickly to “issues and concerns.” That’s something the federation plans to monitor “and we’ll be touching base with food processors as well to see how it seems to be working for them.”

In a May 2 press release, CFIA says the centre provides service in both official languages. It centralizes and consolidates the administration for people asking about domestic and import-related permissions, including licenses, permits and registrations. It is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. eastern standard time.

Its goal is to respond to all email and voice mail messages within three business days. People should plan for 10 business days if they have a simple application that needs to be processed. A longer time period is needed for more complex permissions and applications that require inspections, risk assessments, document reviews and approvals, the release says but didn’t specify how long the longer applications would take.

At various times of the year, CFIA’s service delivery “may be affected due to higher than normal volumes,” the release says.

Bonnett says “I think there has been ongoing issues with some of the consistency with CFIA enforcement and sometimes accuracy of information that was being processed. I think the intent is to try and pull that together so it’s a lot more uniform application of the regulations.”

The centre’s goal of responding to voice and email messages within three business days is an improvement to the service CFIA was providing before the centre opened, he notes. “Sometimes I know there were people waiting for answers for a long time. I think even more importantly, there was a lack of consistency with how they operated.”

The centre’s phone numbers are 1-855-212-7695 or 613-773-0801. The email address is: permission@inspection.gc.ca.

The CFIA didn’t provide a response to questions in time for this posting. BF
 

UPDATE Sat. May 17 2014

CFIA spokesperson Lisa Murphy provides email responses to Better Farming questions:

BF: The Centre of Administration opened its doors on April 1, 2014, why was the notice not issued until May 2, 2014?
 
LM: The Centre of Administration officially opened its doors on April 1 and used the following month to transition the administration systems from the regions to the national centre.
 
BF: Was the Centre of Administration set up as a result of a cost saving measure?
 
LM: The Centre of Administration was created as part of the CFIA’s efforts to modernize its services to Canadians. The Centre will provide for better coordination and consistency of processes and activities related to licensing, permitting and registration. This single-window approach is in line with the administrative practices of our international trading partners.
 
BF: The notice says all messages will be responded to within three business days. Is this time frame different from before?
 
LM: While the broad industry standard is 3 days, the CFIA works to respond to messages as quickly as possible. Administrative processes were previously held within the various regions of the CFIA and the response time differed from region-to-region.
 
BF: How many applications have been processed since April 1?
 
LM: From April 1 to May 15, 2014, the CFIA has processed 1,351 animal health applications, 596 plant health applications and approximately 764 food safety applications. Food safety applications are approximate as they are not tracked in the same manner as animal and plant applications.
 
In the same time frame, the CFIA has issued 688 animal health permits, 646 plant health permits and 489 food safety permits.
 
BF: How many licences/permits and registrations were processed in 2013/2014?
 
LM: In the 2013/2014 fiscal year, the CFIA processed 6,562 animal health applications, 6,407 plant health applications and 5,205 food safety applications. BF