Russian inspectors in Canada
A team of Russian fish inspectors went on a tour of fish farming installations in British Columbia this week. While officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) claimed that this visit was just an "information exchange exercise", industry participants thought otherwise. There is little if any farmed Canadian salmon sold in Russia.
The first visit was to a salmon farm north of Campbell River, where the Russian delegation spent most of their time looking at the extensive set of records kept by the farm crew. Through a translator, questions were asked about issues related to food safety and traceability.
Next the group went to an independently owned fish processing plant that only works with farmed salmon. While there, the plant staff was grilled for 4 hours about their sanitary, HACCP-based control system and other issues related to food safety. While the CFIA had ensured a "low key visit", the operators had not prepared for the in-depth and intense questioning that they were subjected to. Such an official audit was to be conducted "at a later date", the CFIA had stated prior to this visit.
