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ENHANCED REGULATIONS SUPPORT LOCAL MEAT SALES

Community Voices - News

Last Updated on Friday, 23 April 2010 17:52 Written by Administrator

by BC Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport

VICTORIA – Amendments to the Province‟s Meat Inspection Regulation (MIR) will create
two new categories of licences to better serve British Columbia‟s remote and rural
communities.  
 
“These new licences will support local producers and processors around the province
and will allow us to continue protecting the health and food safety of all British Columbians,”
said Minister of Healthy Living and Sport Ida Chong. “These licences will initially be made
available to livestock producers in Bella Coola, the Powell River Regional District and Haida
Gwaii – the communities that participated in the consultation and actually helped develop this
concept.”  
 
The two new licence categories will permit livestock producers in rural and remote areas
that are without reasonable access to licensed slaughter capacity to slaughter their animals and
sell the meat directly to local consumers. One of the licences, available in nine designated areas,
will also permit geographically restricted retail sales.
 
In addition, the Class C transitional licence originally introduced to enable slaughter
operators to become fully licensed will be phased out. Operators will develop customized plans
to transition these facilities to other licences.
 
The amendments also introduce ticketing by health authorities to ensure compliance.
“Through these amendments, the Province is recognizing the importance of existing provincially
licensed facilities and the investment they have made to comply with the regulation,” said
Chong.
 
“We‟ve seen a number of food-borne disease outbreaks in the last couple of years alone –
such as listeria – and we‟re all the more aware of the importance of a system that will protect
consumers,” said Robin Smith, chairman of the board of the B.C. Food Processors‟ Association.
“A well-regulated system means we are better able to isolate problems should they occur, and act
swiftly to protect the health of British Columbians.”
 
The MIR came into force Sept. 1, 2004 for all new operators and Sept. 1, 2006 for all
existing slaughter operators following the bovine spongiform encephalopathy crisis and other
disease outbreaks.