The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is dropping
its near-useless fertilizer sampling and testing program.
The program is voluntary and the majority of
vendors and manufacturers did not participate.
For many years, I have been the only reporter who checked the annual report which revealed that many samples flunked the CFIA standard which was based on accuracy of labels.
The products were judged on the basis of value for money so, for example, they could be woefully short of phosphorous, but if they had too much of the more valuable nitrogen or potash, they would pass muster.
That would, of course, be no comfort to the buyer who would be getting an unbalanced fertilizer.
The CFIA says it’s going to focus on protecting
health and safety and will continue to sample and test fertilizers to verify
that they are “safe for humans, plants, animals and the Canadian
environment."
I hope you can stifle your guffaws!
CFIA said it will also continue "to verify
that products are properly labeled to avoid product misrepresentation in the
marketplace and protect consumers."
It says the change "also provides industry
with greater flexibility, reduced costs and less red tape."
Hardly!
