The study visit to Canada on Rural Development & Food Safety Legislation for the Agriculture Committee of the National People’s Congress of China

November 22-30, 2005

China is now undertaking an overhaul on its food safety regulatory regime, which consists of legislation, regulations and policies evolving on the basis of the Food Hygiene Law adopted a decade ago. With a view to consolidating the structure of the existing regulatory system and incorporating international best practices, the Agriculture Committee of the NPC was asked to draft the Bill on Quality and Safety for Agricultural Products, which has just passed the second reading and will be submitted to the plenary session of the NPC for final approval in March 2006.

As part of the legislative review and analysis, a group of members and staff from the NPC Agriculture Committee embarked on a study visit to Canada in late November 2005 to get an exposure to the Canadian experience in administering food safety with international norms and standards. The visit provided an in-depth insight of the horizontal linkages and coordination in the governance process associated with the administration of food safety standards as well as an illustration of the collaborative relationship between the government and industry in formulating and enforcing food safety measures. The Chinese participants indicated that lessons learned from the visit contributed substantively to the legislative analysis and, in particular, led to their thinking about increasing the inputs and engagement of the industry in the food safety regulatory framework.

Adopting laws and policies to support rural development has repeated as a priority for the cooperation with the Agriculture Committee. The Committee staff who visited Canada in September and November 2005 were provided with a comprehensive overview of the Canadian experience in promoting sustained development of rural communities from the practitioner’s perspectives. Through meetings with government departments at both federal and provincial levels and community organizations at the grass-root level, the trained staff were exposed to a basic understanding of the rural development approach of Canada that featured cross-departmental coordination and community leadership. Exchanges along this theme also direct considerable attention to the mechanisms and practices of developing rural policy in consultation with local communities and residents.

A summary of the agenda and technical materials

The NPC Mission Report (Chinese)

Program Agenda for the study visit to Canada on Rural Development & Food Safety Legislation
The Agriculture Committee of the National People’s Congress of China
November 22-30, 2005

Roundtable with Industry Associations to Obtain Industry Perspectives on the Food Safety Policy
The Canadian Approach to On-Farm Food Safety - English - Chinese
Speaker: Heather Holland, Food Safety Manager, Canadian Fed. of Agriculture

HACCP in the Canadian Feed Industry - English - Chinese
Speaker: Tracey McGrath, Feed Safety, Animal Nutrition Association of Canada

On-Farm Food Safety Recognition Program - English - Chinese
Speaker : Warren Smandych, National Coordinator, On-Farm Food Safety Recognition Program, Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Friday November 25   Food Safety Enforcement in Ontario - GUELPH , ONTARIO

Saturday November 26

Monday November 28 Rural Development at All Governance Levels