OTTAWA, ONTARIO – Thanks to a new investment from the Canadian government, Canadian egg farmers will now have a set of national traceability standards. The investment of more $800,000 (US$774,000) in funding for Egg Farmers of Canada was announced during their Annual General Meeting on May 5.

This investment is provided through the Canadian Integrated Food Safety Initiative (C.I.F.S.I.), which helps the sector respond to growing consumer demands for improved on-farm food safety assurance and proactively manage risks. It will support the development of the Canadian Egg Industry Traceability System (C.E.I.T.S.), which will include processes and operating procedures for tracing the movement of eggs, pullets and egg-laying birds.

The funds will also help establish database requirements for egg and bird traceability information required by government. This will help support the progressive approach taken by the Egg Farmers of Canada (E.F.C.) in taking traceability beyond the livestock industry. E.F.C. is the first organization of the poultry industry to move forward with the development of a traceability system.