The rollout of the NEW SFCA regulations takes place this year. You must be ready to implement the requirements or face penalties. Find out what enforcement will look like direct from Health Canada, CFIA and industry leaders at the biggest event of it’s kind in Canada.
Food regulations are being revolutionized! Be prepared for your next audit under the new rules. Register today!
Gavin is Director of the Food Inspection Branch. The Food Inspection Branch is responsible for administering the ministry’s food safety and inspection programs for meat, dairy, fish, and foods of plant origin. Gavin was previously Manager, Food Safety Science, within the Food Inspection Branch. In his roles with the Food Inspection Branch, Gavin has championed the ministry’s approach to risk-based food safety and the modern regulator. Gavin also has worked as a coordinator within the ministry’s policy area, both on food safety legislation and regulations and on food safety policy for fish and fish products. Prior to joining the OPS, Gavin was Executive Director of the Salmon Health Consortium, a not-for-profit industry association that administered an on-farm food safety program for Canada’s aquaculture industry and addressed issues relating to the approval and use of therapeutics. He has managed aquaculture farms in Ontario and Massachusetts. Gavin has a PhD in aquaculture and an MSc in ecotoxicology.
Lyzette Lamondin is the Executive Director of Food Safety and Consumer Protection with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. She has held various positions within the Agency, including Executive Director of the Food Import, Export and Consumer Protection Division and Director of Agrifood Programs and was Chair of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling in 2015 and 2017. Lyzette led the initial consultations and drafting of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations from 2012 to 2015. Prior to joining the CFIA she worked in intergovernmental and regulatory affairs in the Departments of Fisheries Oceans, and in community-based programs at Health Canada.
John Verbeten is the Director of FDA’s Division of Import Operations. His team provides leadership, instruction, and support for all aspects of FDA’s import operations, including investigation and enforcement activities, interagency collaboration, IT systems development, and management of FDA’s Import Alert program.
Throughout his 27 years with the FDA, John has specialized in import operations. He spent his first 14 years in FDA field offices in Dallas District and Chicago District, primarily as an import investigator, and was named FDA’s Import Inspector of the year in 2000. John has been a member of the national instructor cadre responsible for training employees on import law and FDA import procedures since 2001.
As a staff member and manager in the Division of Import Operations since 2004, John has been integral to issuance and maintenance of instruction to the field including Regulatory Procedures and Investigations Operations; development of import procedures for FDA field offices and headquarters; development of new regulatory/statutory programs, and training of FDA staff on all aspects of FDA’s import operations. He has been heavily involved in issues related to imported pharmaceuticals, International Mail Facilities, and in issues specifically dealing with US Customs and Border Protection laws, regulations, and procedures.
John became Director of FDA’s Division of Import Operations in January 2017.
In mid-2017, Mr. Verheul became Assistant Deputy Minister of the Trade Policy and Negotiations Branch at Global Affairs Canada. In addition to this role, Mr. Verheul is Canada’s Chief Negotiator for the NAFTA Negotiations. Prior to that, Mr. Verheul was appointed as Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator for negotiations between Canada and the European Union in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from 2009-2016, leading that negotiation from its beginning through to its successful conclusion. Prior to that appointment, he worked in international trade policy at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada from 1989 to 2009, where he worked on the NAFTA negotiations, the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations that led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. He was Canada’s Chief Agriculture Negotiator from 2003 to 2009, responsible for leading Canada’s involvement in international trade negotiations on agriculture, including the WTO. Mr. Verheul graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1984, after obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science.
