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Introduction
All livestock feed businesses in Canada have responsibilities with respect to addressing complaints regarding the feed. They must have complaint procedures in accordance with the Feeds Regulations, 2024 (section 62). This guidance document provides an overview of industry obligations and our role in enforcing compliance with these responsibilities.
Purpose
This document provides guidance on the requirement for livestock feed businesses to have a procedure for receiving, investigating and responding to complaints regarding the livestock feeds they are responsible for.
Scope
This guidance applies to livestock feed businesses that manufacture, store, package, label, sell, import for sale or export a livestock feed.
Regulatory authority
The
Complaint procedure
Livestock feed businesses must include their complaints procedure in their preventive control plan (PCP). This must include how complaints will be:
- received
- investigated
- responded to
The document that sets out the procedure for complaints must be kept and maintained. Records must be kept for 2 years. There is no specific requirement for updating and maintaining the procedure. It should be reviewed any time there are changes in the livestock feed business and should be reviewed periodically to ensure it is still up to date.
Implementation
On receipt of a complaint, the livestock feed business must implement their procedure and prepare a document that:
- sets out the details of the complaint
- the results of the investigation and
- the actions taken based on those results
This document must be kept for 2 years after the day on which the actions are completed.
If the result of a complaint investigation identifies that a livestock feed represents a risk of harm to human or animal health or the environment, the business is required to notify us. As part of the actions taken in response to a complaint, a recall and an update to the business' PCP may be required to prevent recurrence and ensure that livestock feed is produced safely in the future. Actions taken to respond to the complaint should include providing complainants with responses regarding their concerns, which may include additional information, an explanation of internal findings or information concerning any corrective actions taken to prevent recurrence.