GHY Tradelines

(Edmonton Journal – George Da Pont)

Re: “Food inspections take hit in budget,” Editorial, April 5.

Let me assure Canadians that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will continue to verify that labels on food products are accurate and follow Canadian labelling regulations.

Verification is carried out in many ways – through investigations into complaints, facility inspections, inspections at the retail level and laboratory testing of products, including verification of the nutrient content or calories in the food at manufacturers, importers and retailers.

The new web-based label self-assessment tool mentioned in Budget 2012 will help industry create compliant labels. There will be no reduction in the CFIA’s activities to verify compliance with labelling regulations.

The CFIA will continue to verify ingredient lists, including the potential presence of undeclared allergens. While the new labelling tool is intended to better inform industry of its labelling responsibilities, it may also be used by consumers to learn more about labelling and the rules companies must follow.

Changes to the label verification program do not come into effect until fiscal year 2014-15. In the interim, the CFIA will work with consumers and industry to ensure that the CFIA’s approach continues to meet needs and expectations.

The CFIA remains committed to having one of the best food safety systems in the world.

Budget 2012 confirms the government’s commitment to food safety. The budget provided an additional $51.2 million over two years to enhance surveillance and early detection and improve response capabilities to foodborne illness emergencies.

George Da Pont, president, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa
 

(Globe & Mail – Arthur Donner and Doug Peters)

As much as the current account deficit is important, it’s just a symptom of a bigger underlying problem, i.e. an overvalued currency.
– National Bank, Weekly Economic Letter, March 19, 2012

Canada’s sterling reputation for stability has developed into a serious economic problem, as countries and businesses look to the Canadian dollar as a safe currency. The result has been an inflow of short-term financial investments that have pushed up the external value of the loonie. With a high dollar, Canadian exports, especially of manufactured goods, have deteriorated, and imports have soared. Canada’s international current account has moved from a surplus to a significant deficit.

A recent National Bank article posed the question of whether the Canadian dollar is overvalued, then set out a rather convincing argument that the answer is yes. The overvalued currency has contributed to the major deterioration in the current account position. Read more here.
 

(Reuters – Doug Palmer)

The United States and the European Union are giving serious thought to starting talks on a free trade agreement covering all business sectors, including agriculture, a traditional source of friction between the two sides, a top U.S. trade official said. “A comprehensive agreement is obviously an important option to consider. It’s one that we’re taking a very close look at,” Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Miriam Sapiro told Reuters.

The United States and the 27 countries of the European Union already have the largest economic relationship in the world. Two-way trade was about $640 billion in 2011 and investment by U.S. and European companies in each other’s economies totals about $2.7 trillion. But facing the prospect of years of slow growth as other countries like China, Brazil and India gallop ahead, U.S. and EU leaders in November established a high-level working group led by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht to explore ways the transatlantic partners could tie their economies even closer to create jobs. Read more here.
 

(The Associated Press)

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection is adding inspection booths on the Port Huron side of the bridge that connects Michigan with Ontario.

The agency said construction begins Monday and will require closing three lanes during the project.

Work at the Blue Water Bridge is expected to take about two months.

Officials say they aim to boost efficiency and security at the border crossing.