Mutual Reliance of Food Testing Results Webinar presentation

Mutual Reliance of Food Testing Results Webinar presentation January 2014 Canadian Food Inspection Agency Food and Drug Administration Corinne Pequignot Tim Mc. Grath Corinne. Pequignot@inspection. gc. ca Timothy. Mcgrath@fda. hhs. gov 1.

Content 1. Overview of the initiative 2. Progress update 3. Key Issues 4. Ongoing regulatory alignment 5. Next steps 6. Questions 2.

Overview of the initiative Objective: Ø Establish mutual reliance on jointly acceptable food safety laboratory recognition criteria, test results and methodologies to ensure that food safety laboratory testing conducted in one country is acceptable to regulators in both countries within the mandates of Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Health Canada (HC) and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Outcomes: Ø Development and implementation of Guiding Principles for mutual acceptance of laboratory accreditation. Ø Establish a permanent mechanism to maintain mutual acceptance of laboratory accreditation. 3.

Progress update Outcome 1: Ø Develop and implement Guiding Principles for mutual acceptance of laboratory accreditation Current Status: Ø Inventory of processes and tools used by CFIA and FDA for laboratory accreditation criteria was completed. Ø Stakeholder consultation on the Canada - FDA gap analysis identifying differences in accreditation criteria used by regulators was completed in October 2013. Ø The Guiding Principles are being developed in conjunction with the permanent mechanism 4.

Progress update Outcome 2: Ø Establish a permanent mechanism to maintain mutual acceptance of laboratory accreditation. Current Status: Ø Two options considered – second option chosen 1. Develop a new working group or committee 2. Use an existing committee such as the CFIA-Health Canada-FDA Joint Committee on Food Safety. 5.

Key issues Ø CFIA and FDA are both in the process of modernizing food safety rules and regulations following new legislation passed in each country Ø U. S. - Food Safety Modernization Act Ø Canada - Safe Food for Canadians Act Ø Laboratory accreditation criteria and requirements are a part of the new rules and regulations 6.

Ongoing regulatory alignment Ø Moving forward, the focus of the initiative will be the creation of the permanent mechanism to foster broad regulatory cooperation on food safety laboratories. Ø Elements to be included in the permanent mechanism are Ø Governance Ø Work plans Ø Development of working groups Ø Reporting Ø Consistency with other related RCC initiatives in relation to broader CFIA, HC U. S. FDA cooperative arrangements. Ø Stakeholder comments on how to address divergence between U. S. and Canadian regulators will inform the cooperative arrangements. 7.

Next steps • Joint stakeholder consultation on permanent mechanism will be in spring 2014. 8.

Questions • What are the elements that should be included in the permanent mechanism to enhance regulatory cooperation between the FDA and the CFIA and HC? • Questions 9.