FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2004-12-08

New SCC program encourages environmental management of hog operations

OTTAWA - The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) is pleased to announce the launch of a new accreditation program that will help improve the environmental performance of hog operations.

The Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Hog Operator Program uses the existing SCC EMS Accreditation Program as its foundation. Under the initiative, the SCC will qualify accredited EMS Registration Bodies (RBs) to register hog producers' EMS to the newly published Canadian Standard - CAN/CSA Z771 Environmental management systems for hog operations: Requirements.

CAN/CSA Z771 was published by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), and developed through consensus by a committee of affected stakeholders, including representatives from the pork industry, federal and provincial governments, environmental groups and consumers.  The standard, which provides a voluntary national framework for responsible environmental management of hog operations in Canada, was approved by the SCC as a National Standard of Canada in March 2004.

For additional information regarding the program, including registration to the new standard, please contact Stefan Janhager, Senior Program Officer EMS, at (613) 238-3222, or [email protected].

The SCC is the Canadian member body of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and has internationally recognized credentials.  The SCC's accreditation program for EMS ensures registrars have demonstrated their competence to evaluate environmental management systems, and that they have the capabilities, resources and organizational structure required to offer high-quality service to their clients. For more information on the Standards Council's accreditation programs visit www.scc.ca, or contact the Standards Council's Conformity Assessment Branch via e-mail at [email protected].

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