April 1, 2014

Canada's Manitoba Pork Council is encouraging truckers coming back to Manitoba after delivering pigs to US packing plants to have their trucks and trailers washed and disinfected at accredited truck wash stations in Manitoba.

Under regulations introduced last month to help minimise the risk of spreading porcine epidemic diarrhoea (PED), all trucks returning to Canada from swine farms in the US must be sealed at the border and then be properly washed and disinfected in Canada at accredited truck wash stations that meet standards set out by the Canadian Swine Health Board.

Manitoba Pork Council general manager Andrew Dickson notes the hope is that this new requirement will be extended to also include trucks and trailers returning from US packing plants.

Dickson said trailers coming back from packing plants in the US are encouraged to have their vehicles properly washed and disinfected in stations in Manitoba and rely on the cooperation of those companies bringing those pigs down there to do that.

He hopes that the federal government will change the regulations on those sealed trucks that are going down to the US to packing plants and have them follow the same procedures as the Council does with trailers taking live animals on farm in the US.

Dickson emphasised that the key thing is to use the accredited stations that they have in Manitoba where they know there will be an inspection done by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to make sure the trucks are properly washed and procedures are being followed.

He says they've had excellent cooperation to date and, he stresses, if this could be maintained then the disease can be held at bay.