Annex F

F.1 Additional Ante-mortem Procedures Related to Equine

Equine Owner Responsibilities

Information documents (individual animal EID and Lot EID) as described in Annex E of Chapter 17 of this manual represent the means of information transfer from the equine owner to the establishment operator and the CFIA.

The equine owner is to ensure that:

  • Individual Equine Information Documents are submitted to the establishment operator with the equine animal or that the lot equine information documents are submitted as outlined in Annex E of Chapter 17.
  • All equine information documents are complete, accurate and provide at least 180 days of history for the animal or animals presented for slaughter.
  • Equine animals with a historical record of non permitted drug usage shall not be presented for slaughter for human consumption.
  • Animals represented by equine information documents sent to slaughter have met all medication related withdrawal periods as shown in Annex E of Chapter 17 sections E.6 and E.7, or on the product label, and/or have met withdrawal periods provided via a licensed veterinarian, through a veterinary/client/patient relationship, who has enlisted and cited the aid of a body recognised by the veterinary community as being capable of determining medication related withdrawal periods such as gFARAD or a veterinary pharmaceutical department of an accredited Veterinary Medical College. In the case of a withdrawal determination, the withdrawal period/interval information provided from the recognised veterinary body is attached to the EID. See Chapter 5 of this manual for cgFARAD information.
  • Refrain from transporting, or allowing to be transported, any compromised animal if the transportation will cause further injury, stress and/or suffering (Health of Animals Act and Health of Animals Regulations, Part XII paragraph 138 (2) (a)).
  • Animals are not entrusted to a transporter whose vehicle is not designed to transport equine animals or is in a state of questionable repair (Health of Animals Act and Health of Animals Regulations, Part XII paragraph 143 (1) (a)).

Responsibilities of an Operator Slaughtering Equine

Information document(s) provide the operator with the necessary level of confidence that identified potential biological, chemical and physical hazards associated with live equine animals have been recorded, and to the extent possible, prevented or controlled at the farm level and during transportation. Every operator shall develop, implement and maintain a control program that ensures the validity and accuracy of information contained on EIDs they accept. The control program shall contain contact information for every transient agent doing business with the operator. The operator shall take the necessary action to ensure the validity of EID documents they accept via procedures such as the provision of information to transient agents related to enhancing the accuracy of EIDs, transient agent training, and supervision of the transient agent business procedures including periodically contacting previous owners via the contact information provided on EIDs to ensure accurate information was captured. The operator shall develop and implement effective corrective action(s) and take appropriate measures on animals and meat products as required in cases of non-compliance.

The CFIA's oversight of equine information documents reviewed by the operator allows CFIA staff to judge if the operator is taking the necessary corrective actions and preventive measures when evaluating incoming animal information in accordance with the written specifications contained in the HACCP system.

The CFIA or an approved designate may assess the effectiveness of the operator's control over the validity and accuracy of Equine Information Documents at the industry level. To assist the CFIA in this task, the operator shall provide the names and contact information of all owners and transient agents to the CFIA upon request. Operators of equine slaughter facilities shall develop and implement signed contractual agreements with equine owners and transient agents presenting equine for slaughter that make it permissible for the CFIA or approved designate to contact and conduct assessments of the means of record keeping, EID creation, EID maintenance and EID transfer including onsite verification.

The operator is responsible for evaluating all submitted information documents (Individual animal EID and Lot EIDs) as part of the ante-mortem examination (screening) process to ensure the forms are complete, all withdrawal periods have been met, and that there is no indication of non-permitted drug/substance administered to equine animals that are to be slaughtered for human consumption.

If the information document is incomplete the operator may contact the equine owner to obtain a complete information document.

After the operator has completed the review of information documents and found the animal(s) it represents acceptable for slaughter for human consumption, the information documents shall be provided to a CFIA Veterinarian for review. In the case of SLEID submission, the operator shall ensure that the CFIA has access to the original or has a copy of the relevant IEID for a correlation comparison.

After CFIA review, the operator shall file all information documents and keep them for a minimum of one year. Information document records shall be made available to the CFIA upon request.

During the operator's ante-mortem examination (screening), the operator shall verify the identity of animal(s) represented by the information documents by comparing the animal description on information documents to the live animal presented for slaughter. In the case of animals presented with a SLEID, the operator shall also verify that the animal identification listed on the SLEID corresponds to previously submitted and accepted IEID.

The operator shall develop and implement a control procedure that will link and maintain the identity correlation between the individual EID and the animal through the slaughter process including carcass cooling. In the case of Lot EIDs, lot identity shall be linked to carcasses presented as a lot. The basic premise of this control program is to ensure that carcass identity can be linked to animal identity and associated information such as medical records and chain of ownership to facilitate trace back if required.

Missing or Incomplete Equine Information Documents

Operators may choose one of the following two options for equine that arrive at their establishment for slaughter without a fully completed or acceptable information document:

Option no. 1

Slaughter the equine as a segregated lot and treat all derived meat products as inedible meat products (The operator shall ensure that potential chemical residues and veterinary drugs issues do not implicate and restrict the use of inedible material); or

Option no. 2

If assured that a fully completed EID will arrive, the operator may elect to hold the animal(s) in compliance with section 43 of the MIR. Compliance with animal welfare requirements is the responsibility of the operator. (Note that live animals imported into Canada as "slaughter only" are subject to time restrictions under the Health of Animals Act and Regulations limiting the amount of time they may remain alive in Canada). The VIC has the option of allowing slaughter with a complete faxed/electronic copy of revised information documents.

In the instance of a missing or incomplete Lot EID, the operator shall conduct an investigation to determine the root cause. A report, including follow-up action taken to avoid any reoccurrence, must be provided to the CFIA.

Operators may have the option of producing for Export Only product based on specified importing country requirements, in compliance with subsection 122 (2) of the MIR. A CFIA approved written control program addressing identification and segregation procedures for Export Only animals and products shall be developed, implemented and maintained by the operator.

The CFIA's Role

After the operator has verified that equine information documents are complete and acceptable they (or copies there of) shall be submitted to the CFIA. A CFIA veterinarian will review the information documents to ensure the necessary information (equine identification is listed; non permitted substances are not declared; any applicable withdrawal periods are listed and compatible with label declarations or Chapter 17 Annex E sections E.5 and E.6 or with a provided withdrawal interval determination from a recognized veterinary body such as gFARAD; owner declaration is signed; for Lot EIDs the previously accepted animal identification method is used; SLEID identity information correlates to a previously submitted IEID) is complete.

If equine information documents are acceptable to the reviewing CFIA veterinarian, they shall be signed and returned to the operator to be filed. If the veterinary review determines that the animal is not acceptable for slaughter and/or the information document is not complete, the CFIA veterinarian will note the deficiency on the information document, make a copy of the document with comments and return the document to the plant operator. The animal or animals represented by the unacceptable document shall not proceed to slaughter without acceptable information documents. See chapters 18 and 14 of the Meat Hygiene Manual of Procedures for other applicable CFIA procedures. The operator shall investigate and determine why an incomplete/unacceptable information document was submitted as acceptable to the CFIA and take appropriate preventative actions.

During ante-mortem inspection the CFIA veterinarian will compare the identification listed on the individual animal EIDs or Lot EIDs to the animals presented for slaughter. A sufficient number of EIDs and/or Lot EIDs are selected by the CFIA for identity verification purposes to establish comfort over the operator's ante-mortem identification check. A copy of the information document or the original may be used for identification verification purposes by the CFIA. Copies of information documents however shall be given to the operator once oversight functions related to animal identification are complete.

F.2 Verification of the Equine Slaughter Operator's Control Over the Validity of Equine Information Documents

Industry Verification

An operator of an equine slaughter facility must have effective control programs and procedures to ensure claims made on Equine Information Documents they accept may be considered valid.

Operators of equine slaughter facilities utilize equine buying agents to obtain the vast majority of animals for slaughter. The equine buying agents obtain animals at public auction and from private sale. Equine buying agents and livestock auction market personnel are key players in the creation and transfer of Equine Information Documents. It is imperative that the information provided by equine owners and captured in the owner signed Equine Information Document provides an accurate medical history and identification of the animal. Operators must ensure equine owners and buying agents follow procedures outlined in Chapter 17 of the Meat Hygiene Manual of Procedures and they provide an accurate Equine Information Document to the slaughter operator. Equine owners have been encouraged to create medical information records for their animals to aid in the Equine Information Document process to ensure accuracy of information.

To evaluate the operator's control over the validity of the information provided through Equine Information Documents, the CFIA will conduct verifications of the Equine Information Document creation and transfer process. The CFIA verification evaluations apply to owners, buyers, records and equine under the care/control of equine buyers or private owners at assembly points and premises; at public auction; and at private sale premises. The CFIA's Compliance Verification System (CVS) tasks have been created to guide and track verifications. In order to facilitate the CFIA verification activities at these locations, slaughter plant operators shall have a signed agreement from the owners and equine buyers presenting equine for slaughter at their facility accepting CFIA verification activities on premises holding equine.

Reporting Industry Deficiencies and Follow-up

Deficiencies found during the CFIA verification activities listed above may indicate a lack of an effective operator control over the validity of Equine Information Documents. As such, the verifying CFIA inspector shall contact the Veterinarian in Charge (VIC) at the intended operator(s) facility and provide the details of deficient findings. The VIC or designate shall provide the details of the finding to the plant operator. The operator shall take appropriate compliance action related to implicated animals or product if necessary as well as implement/enhance their ante-mortem control program procedures as required to enhance/assure the validity of EID information. The CFIA will conduct a verification of the operators control procedures and corrective actions related to the validity of Equine Information Documents using the appropriate CVS task.

Residue Finding Follow-up Procedures Related to EID Validity

Chemical residue results that indicate residues detected in equine meat products shall be investigated by the operator to determine if the implicated previously accepted EID contains declarations that may not be valid. The corresponding Equine Information Document shall be located by the operator. If discrepancy exists between declared drug usage and residues detected, the operator shall effect corrective actions to ensure the validity of Equine Information Documents they accept is strengthened. The CFIA shall conduct a verification of the operators control procedures and corrective actions related to the validity of Equine Information Documents accepted by the operator.

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