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Canadian Quality Sheep and Lamb Program
Canadian Quality Sheep and Lamb is the Canadian sheep industry’s
on-farm food safety program. The program is administered by the Canadian
Sheep Federation and has been developed by a technical committee comprised
of sheep producers, experts in sheep production and specialists in food
safety from across the country.
The program addresses food safety issues that may arise during sheep and
lamb production by outlining specific management practices and a record
keeping system that will require producers to:
•
Observe dosage, withdrawal times, and storage requirements for animal
health products (e.g antibiotics, vaccines, chemical de-wormers, medicated
feed);
• Provide employee training and promote systems of on-farm communication;
• Prevent exposure of sheep to potentially hazardous materials;
• Handle sheep properly during treatment to minimize needle breakage
and muscle damage;
• Observe flock management practices, including biosecurity and
proper animal care, to optimize disease prevention and animal health;
When the
program is in place, a third party auditor will verify compliance with
the requirements for certification in the program.
What
are the Benefits of the Program?
• Enhanced consumer confidence in the safety, quality
and consistency of sheep products;
• Enhanced detection and prevention of on-farm food safety concerns;
• Increased market share for Canadian sheep and lamb products, domestically
and internationally;
• Increased market access due to expansion of market alliances within
the agriculture and processing sectors;
• Enhanced opportunity for producers to meet buyer demands and for
involvement in the marketing of a branded product or other accreditation
processes;
• Improved understanding of flock management through systematic
record keeping;
• Increased standardization of on-farm food safety to complement
food safety programs beyond the farm gate;
• Heightened producer satisfaction from doing things right.
Where
are we now?
Our program is in the final stages of development and will be reviewed by
CFIA during summer, 2003. The Canadian Sheep Federation will be hiring a
National Coordinator with funding from the COFFS program to help the Technical
Committee deliver the program to producers across the country throughout
the next year.
Sources: Canadian Quality Sheep and Lamb: the Canadian
sheep industry’s on-farm food safety program, Producer Pilot projects,
May – October 2002.
Kyle, Beth. Canadian Quality Sheep and Lamb: the Canadian sheep industry’s
on-farm food safety program (www.ontariosheep.org).
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