Archived - Model Class Screening Report

The Importation of Certified European Honeybees to Canada

1.0 Introduction

• 1.1 The Model Class Screening Report
• 1.2 Preparation of the Model Class Screening Report
• 1.3 Responsible Authority
• 1.4 Public Consultation
• 1.5 Public Registry / FEAI
• 1.6 Amending the Model Class Screening Report

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1.0 Introduction

In 1997, the Government of Canada consolidated all federally-mandated food inspection and quarantine services into a single agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The CFIA began operations in April 1997. It reports to Parliament through the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. All inspection services related to food safety, economic fraud, trade-related requirements, and animal and plant health programs are provided by CFIA. The CFIA is a responsible authority (RA) under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (the Act or the CEAA), in that it is required to conduct environmental assessments (EA) of certain projects for which it exercises a regulatory duty (e.g., the importation of animals into Canada). Animal importation includes the importation of European honeybees. This activity is defined as a project under the Act.

Approximately 8,000 packages of honeybees, ( approximately 2 pounds of bees per package) and 150,000 queen bees are imported each year into Canada from Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia. Honeybees play an essential role in the pollination of fruits and vegetables, and in the production of honey. Honey is produced in all 10 provinces and the territories. In Canada, over 13,000 beekeepers maintain more than 500,000 bee hives and beekeeping constitutes a multi-million dollar industry.

In recent years, CFIA has undertaken a detailed review and assessment of the importation practices and rules for importing European honeybees. The CFIA worked with industry representatives, to develop protocols for the importation of European honeybees into Canada. The protocols were created as a means to ensure that European honeybees being shipped into Canada are disease free and that these bees do not pose a threat to the existing honeybee populations in Canada. As a result, only honeybees from New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii are accepted into Canada.

There are two main environmental concerns associated with the importation of honeybees into Canada, namely the potential introduction of disease into resident honeybee populations, and the introduction of other potentially harmful bee species. The Import Requirements address these issues. The protocols outline detailed conditions that must be adhered to by importers in order to receive an import permit. The protocols have the effect of ensuring that the adverse environmental effects from the importation of certified European honeybees are not significant.

The CFIA initiated the preparation of this Model Class Screening Report to establish a more efficient and streamlined planning approach and environmental assessment procedure for the importation of certified European honeybees into Canada.

1.1 The Model Class Screening Report

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act is a legislated environmental assessment process designed to integrate environmental considerations into projects where there is a federal decision or responsibility, whether as any other person or body designated by the RA in accordance with Section 17(1) of the Act, land administrator, source of funding, or regulator.

The first phase of the environmental assessment process is a self-directed assessment through an environmental screening. This phase is considered self-directed because the federal Responsible Authority (RA) determines the scope of the project subject to environmental assessment (EA) and either directly conducts or manages the EA process through the proponent.

Of projects that are subject to the Act, it is likely that the vast majority will be assessed through a screening. Anticipating the potentially large number of screening, many of which are similar and result in a limited range of predictable mitigable environmental effects, the Act provides for a class screening mechanism. Section 19 of the Act provides for the declaration of Class Screening Reports.

Class screening has been developed as a two part assessment process (Figure 1):

• The Model Class Screening Report (Model Report or MCSR) is developed and supported by the Responsible Authority (RA) and declared by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (the Agency). The Model Report defines the requirements for environmental assessment, time periods and follow-up programs.
• The Class Screening Project Report (CSPR or Project Report) is the project-specific environmental assessment which is to be prepared by the RA.   Together, the Model Report and the Project Report constitute the class screening as per Sections (15) 16(1) and 18(1) of the Act.

The inclusion of a planning process in the Model Report ensures that when the MCSR is accepted by the RA and declared by the Agency pursuant to Section 19 of the Act, CSPRs that are planned and implemented in accordance with the MCSR are also approved (pursuant to s.s. 20(1)(a) of the Act) provided that the CSPR fulfills the requirements presented in the MCSR.

This Model Class Screening Report:

• Outlines what the CEAA triggers for conducting an environmental screening are, and defines the scope of the MCSR (Section 2.0)
• Outlines the Model Class Screening Process for the importation of certified European honeybees under the CEAA (Section 2.0)
• Defines the need for importing certified European honeybees, and the importation process that importers must follow (Section 3.0);
• Presents an environmental review of the importation of certified European honeybees that includes a description of potential environmental significance and accepted mitigation (Section 4.0); and,
• Outlines the procedures and process to be used to prepare a Class Screening Project Report (CSPR) for each importation project (Section 5.0).

1.2 Preparation of the Model Class Screening Report

The MCSR streamlines and simplifies the environmental screening approval process for routine projects in the following ways:

• Many routine projects may be screened and a decision made by the RA under the Act after a simple CSPR form is completed by the project proponent (i.e., the importer).
• The MCSR defines the process to be followed by the RA and project proponent (i.e., honeybee importer) in preparing a CSPR. This planning process will ensure that the potential environmental effects and mitigation measures of projects within the class are considered in a consistent and efficient manner during project planning, screening, approval and implementation. Regulatory standards and the experience of current provincial governments with importing honeybees, have been used to identify potential environmental effects and mitigation measures.
• The MCSR presents a compilation of information for the importation of certified European honeybees. This information includes descriptions of importation practices, the range of typical environmental effects, and the range of standard mitigation procedures and residual effects that may result with importation of certified European honeybees from New Zealand and Australia.
• The information provided in the MCSR will reduce the amount of work that is required to prepare a CSPR.

Public consultation was conducted during the development of the MCSR (refer to Section 1.4). Consultation requirements during the preparation of a CSPR may, therefore, be reduced, as specified in Section 5.

1.3 Responsible Authority

As defined under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, a Responsible Authority (RA), in relation to a project, "means a federal authority that is required pursuant to subsection 11(1) to ensure that an environmental assessment of the project is conducted'. The RA for this MCSR is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency,it is the federal authority responsible for issuing permits and approvals for the importation of European honeybees.

1.4 Public Consultation

A public consultation program was pursued in the development of this MCSR which included the following components:

• Key stakeholders were identified with assistance from the CFIA and from the executive members of the Canadian Association of Professional Apiarists (CAPA).
• Contacts were made with CAPA representatives, provincial apiarists, and CFIA staff responsible for international importations, to identify key environmental issues associated with importation activities and to ensure that required standards are captured in the MCSR.
• Provincial apiarists and CFIA staff reviewed and commented on the draft MCSR and changes were made to the MCSR in accordance with the comments.

The MCSR is also issued for further Public Review by both the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA), and by CFIA (the RA), before the Class Screening is declared by the Agency.

1.5 Public Registry / FEAI

Class Project Screening Reports (CPSRs) prepared under the MCSR will be filed in the Public Registry maintained by the Responsible Authority (RA) in each region for the purpose of facilitating public access to records relating to environmental assessments. The Model Class Screening Report will be placed in a Public Registry managed by the Agency and by the CFIA. The MCSR will also be placed on the Federal Environmental Assessment Index (FEAI), indicating the class, the RA, the location where the project specific information may be obtained and the RA contact.

Projects screened under the class will not be listed on the FEAI. Rather, the RA (CFIA) will maintain a running tally of all screening (i.e., CSPRs) completed under the class and submit the tally of all projects completed under the class to the Agency for incorporation in the FEAI biannually, at the end of each importation season (October 31st) and the end of each fiscal year (March 31st), within 30 days of each of these dates.

The rationale for this provision is:

• The potential environmental effects of these importation projects are relatively minor, predictable and mitigable, they meet the established environmental protection standards outlined in Section 4.2, are addressed in detail in the MCSR, and are unlikely to be of substantive public concern;
• The class of project, potential environmental effects and planning process will have been reviewed by the public through the review of the draft MCSR; and,
• The administrative burden in placing project information as a biannual tally is consistent with the public concern and environmental significance of these projects.

Projects which do not fit in the class and are subject to an individual screening, will be placed in the RA's public registry and on the FEAI as per the RA's current practice.

1.6 Amending the Model Class Screening Report

The purpose of an amending procedure is to allow for the modification of the Model Class Screening Report after experience has been gained with its operation and effectiveness. The reasons for such modifications are provided below:

• Clarification of ambiguous areas of the document and procedures.
• Streamlining or modifying the planning process in areas where problems may have arisen.
• Minor modifications and revisions to the scope of the assessment to reflect new or changed regulatory requirements, policies or standards (i.e., if new importation protocols are created which indicate that there will be insignificant adverse environmental effects from importing certified European honeybees from other countries, then these countries could be added to the scope of this MCSR).
• Extension of the application of the MCSR to projects that were not previously included but are analogous to projects included in the class definition (e.g., the importation of other non-domestic animals).

In order to facilitate the above, the CFIA will, as it becomes necessary, amend the Model Class Screening Report according to the procedure outlined in Appendix A.

The CFIA will review with the Agency the performance of the MCSR within two years of the anniversary of the declaration of the Class Screening report in consultation with stakeholders and the public and will make any amendments considered necessary in accord with the amendment mechanism.