Agency to work more closely with provincial bodies.   Ottawa—The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will receive $20 million in additional funding to enhance its food safety activities by hiring extra staff and reassigning current workers to critical activities. Announced April 13 by Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Health Minister Patty Hajdu, the funding is intended to ensure CFIA can safely conduct its inspection work while respecting COVID-19 physical distancing rules. The extra funding will enable CFIA to hire, train and equip additional staff, including recently retired CFIA inspectors and veterinarians, to conduct critical inspection activities, reassign staff from within the Agency to focus on important  services, and work closer with industry and trading partners to minimize supply disruptions during the pandemic, the ministers said. As well CFIA will work more closely with provincial inspection bodies to monitor safety of the food supply chain, they said. Anthony Fuchs, Director of Communications for Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC), said the federal action underscores the importance of having enough CFIA staff to ensure the food supply chain remains operational and manufacturing plant workers are safe. At the same time, “more clarity is needed on the recent CFIA labelling exceptions announcements for foodservice products produced in Canada that can be re-channeled and sold at retail,” he said. There are uncertainties “about labelling exceptions for retail pre-packaged food and consumer goods products manufactured in the U.S. or other country entering into Canada,” he said. CFIA also needs to clarify whether low-risk products that aren't labelled to Canadian standards can be imported for retail sales. It also needs to clarify what rules will be imposed on products with ingredient, food additive or fortification differences such as pasta, flour, bread and cereals. “Could CFIA provide clarity on how these products would be handled and consider allowing for temporary labelling exceptions for these products to be sold at retail as well?” Jackie Crichton, Executive Director of the Canadian Supply Chain Food Safety Coalition, said the extra CFIA funding “will assist in ensuring ongoing food safety and food security during these extraordinary times.” The ministers said CFIA will also use the extra funding to expand its use of electronic tools to ensure safety rules are followed. The funding will also support the CFIA in developing flexible ways to carry out inspections, including through the expanded use of electronic tools such as tablets and access to the CFIA's remote service delivery network. The CFIA and the provinces and territories are already working together to safeguard the Canadian food supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding will also support the training of provincial food inspectors so they can provide assistance to the CFIA as needed. In some provinces, it may entail training CFIA inspectors to support provincial food inspection activities. Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.