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 CFIA Certification for Kaye Nickerson
Monday, July 04, 2005
Certification Viewed as an accomplishment for Nickerson Centre
By Eric Bourque
The Vanguard
Yarmouth - The Kaye Nickerson Adult Service Centre received official documentation recently declaring it has been approved for participation in Canadian Wood Products Certification Program by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The certification was needed in order for the centre to comply with international trade standards aimed at ensuring the safety of products going abroad.
“In order to continue our business in the pallet sector, it was necessary for us to look at becoming certified and as a result we’ve been successful,” Darrell Foster, manager of the Kaye Nickerson Adult Service Centre. “We’ve had a site inspection by CFIA inspectors. We’ve developed a quality control manual, which has been approved, and that basically outlines the specifications to be followed as a producer of wood packaging materials. Examples include proper storage and segregation of lumber”.
Foster views the certification as a major achievement for the Parade Street Facility. “We feel it is an accomplishment for the centre, a turning point,” he said in an interview.
The Kaye Nickerson centre, which provides vocational training to adults with special needs, produces various products – including a line of lawn furniture – but pallets account for most of its outport, an estimated 80 per cent, Foster says.
He notes that meeting today’s global trade standards is required not just at the production end but also on the supply end, where there are steps that need to be followed regarding the treatment of wood before it is shipped.
“Coupled with us as a CFIA-approved producer, we have to ensure the lumber is purchased from a CFIA-certified (supplier)…and it must be verifiable by paper trail,” he said.
The Nickerson centre has 32 clients. They must be at least 18 years of age. The oldest is 73. There is no mandatory retirement age for the centre’s clients. The centre takes into account each person’s needs- and age is among the consideration- and tries to accommodate those needs as much as possible, Foster says.
Acadian Seaplants is the centre’s biggest customer as far as pallets go. Foster says the organization appreciates their business, as well as that of all customers.
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