The governments of Canada and British Columbia are providing up to $1.6 million over two years to support B.C.’s agrifood producers’ efforts to enhance on-farm food safety practices and meet emerging national and international food-safety traceability requirements.

B.C.’s On Farm Food Safety and Traceability Program offers eligible B.C. agrifood businesses cost-shared funding to:

• Conduct food safety and traceability assessments to identify and document risks, issues and opportunities to improve food safety and traceability capacity, systems and practices;
• Access training to increase the food safety and traceability expertise of their staff; and
• Implement good agricultural practices (GAPs), best practices (BPs) and recognized hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) food safety practices and traceability systems in their operations.

The program targets on-farm agri-businesses producing food for human consumption and businesses seeking first-time certification in internationally recognized HACCP-based food safety assurance programs. B.C. companies that use recognized food safety and traceability standards, and implement food safety and traceability systems, effectively manage food safety risk, and create opportunities to access new markets and increase sales.

2015 was a record year for B.C.’s agri-food industry with revenues topping $13 billion for the first time, and exports reaching $3.5 billion, the highest ever. Additional information and applications for the new program are available at: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/industry/agriculture-seafood/programs/growing-forward-2/on-farm-food-safety

The program is funded through Growing Forward 2, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative that provides a $3-billion investment over five years in innovation, competitiveness and market development.