Feds Announce $2 Million Investment in Food Safety
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The government of Canada has announced that it will be investing as much as $2 million to help Canadian producers prevent and control outbreaks of animal disease. Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz made the announcement today.
Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The funding will be directed toward the Canadian Animal Health Coalition – part of the West Hawk Lake Zoning Initiative. It will be used to help monitor animal and agriculture product movement from one end of Canada to another.
In a statement, the agriculture minister applauded Canadian farmers for their high-quality products and existing commitment to safety measures, and said that the investment in the Canadian Animal Health Coalition would help Canada maintain its “strong reputation.”
“This initiative allows Canada to once again prove to our international trading partners that we’re ready and able to get on top of any potential animal disease problems quickly and effectively,” said the Minister.
Because of its position, West Hawk Lake makes a perfect location for monitoring the traffic of goods across eastern and western Canada. Located near the Ontario/Manitoba border, it is located on the only major railways and highway that connect both the eastern and western parts of the country. In the case of an event such as disease outbreak, West Hawk, with its mid-country positioning, should be able to contain the outbreak to either side of the country.
The West Hawk Lake Zoning Initiative began as a pilot project that ran successfully and is now being converted to a fully operational, around-the-clock operation. Technicians at the facility are able to monitor the movements of agricultural goods, including livestock, in control those movements in the case of an emergency.
The Zoning Initiative is seen as another positive step towards establishing a solid national system of traceability, helping Canada to become even more proactive about food safety issues. With dozens of trucks passing through the West Hawk Lake area every day, the Zoning Iniative, says Kenora MP Greg Rickford, is truly “an important safeguard for the health and welfare of our food supply and our livestock industry.”
The West Hawk Lake Zoning Initiative project is supported by the federal government’s Canadian Integrated Food Safety Initiative, which falls under the Growing Forward program – a federal program designed to help the agricultural sector improve food safety and risk management measures in order to meet consumer demand.
