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Archived - Audit of Contracting

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Audit

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's (CFIA) internal audit function provides the President, senior officials and agency managers with an independent capability to perform audits of the resources, systems, processes, structures and operational tasks of the CFIA. It helps the CFIA accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to assessing and improving the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes.

The Chief Audit Executive is accountable to CFIA's President, who is a member of CFIA's Audit Committee. All internal audit findings and recommendations are reported to the Audit Committee, and all audits must be carried out in accordance with federal policy and legislative requirements, including the 2012 Policy on Internal Audit and the 2006 Federal Accountability Act.

CFIA internal audit projects are identified through an annual and multi-year risk-based audit planning process. These plans are submitted to the Audit Committee for review and recommendation to the President for approval.

Overview

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducted an internal audit of contracting for contracts issued from April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2012. The objectives of this audit were to provide assurance that the CFIA contracting control framework is adequate to ensure that contracts are issued in compliance with Government of Canada regulations, policies and procedures, and assess the extent to which activities undertaken support an efficient contracting process.

Key Finding

The CFIA has a contracting control framework in place and it is adequate to ensure that contracts are issued in compliance with Government of Canada regulations, policies and procedures with some exceptions. Opportunities to strengthen the control framework were identified during the audit. The audit also identified opportunities to enhance the efficiency of the contracting process.

In general, documented roles and responsibilities, policies and procedures, training and guidance, advisory services, monitoring and review for procurement and contracting are in place. Audit examination covering the past two fiscal years indicated that contract files were generally in compliance with contracting regulations, policies and procedures, and were appropriately authorized, documented and reviewed by supervisors.

While contract processing is functioning well in many respects, there are opportunities for improvement in certain areas. The audit noted that Contracting and Procurement Policy Division (CPPD) is developing a planning process, including obtaining input from branches regarding their upcoming procurement needs, in order to better anticipate and plan workload requirements. Improved planning would be beneficial to CPPD enabling it to provide more consistent timely service to its clients throughout the year.

The report includes five recommendations to address areas where improvements are required. Management agrees with the recommendations and its response indicates its commitment to take action.

Complete report:

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