May 5, 2009

Restrictions on Canadian pork products due to the discovery of swine flu on a small Alberta hog operation are unnecessary, pork industry contacts said.

 

Martin Rice, an executive director with the Canadian Pork Council, said there was absolutely no reason for any country to impose bans or restrictions on Canadian hogs or pork product.

 

Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Saturday the H1N1 flu was discovered in an Alberta swine herd. The pigs, who have been placed under quarantine, most likely contracted the virus from a Canadian who had returned from Mexico in mid-April and had exhibited flu-like symptoms, said the CFIA.

 

It's believed the Alberta case is the first time anywhere in the world the new H1N1 influenza virus has been found in pigs.

 

The individual who likely infected the pigs has recovered and all of the pigs are recovering or have recovered, said the CFIA.

 

Both world and Canadian health officials agree that the flu virus cannot be transmitted by eating pork.

 

The Philippines, the Ukraine, Honduras, El Salvador and Korea had already imposed restrictions on Canadian pork products before the confirmation of swine flu on the Alberta farm on Saturday, Rice said.

 

"Korea did not ban Canadian pork, but had initiated a testing program that up until Saturday had been random," Rice said. He said Korean officials were taking 4 percent of Canada's pork imports and putting them through tests. That level of testing was bumped up to 100 percent of Canada's pork imports on Saturday.

 

Rice said that on Saturday, China put a ban on all pork product imports from just the Canadian province of Alberta, not the rest of Canada.

 

Russia, meanwhile, added Alberta to the three other Canadian provinces that are not allowed to ship pork due to the human cases of H1N1. The other three Canadian provinces are Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Ontario. Russia has also banned pork shipments from several US states and from Mexico. Rice said any Canadian province that discovers the human H1N1 virus will be added to the list.

 

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said the government is seeking clarification on why China "has gone as far as they have." He also threatened World Trade Organization action against China because of the ban.

The news of the swine flu outbreak in Mexico and the spread of the virus among humans in several US states definitely impacted the price of hogs in North America, said Tyler Fulton, director of risk management at Manitoba Pork Marketing.

 

"We are definitely seeing some further price pressure on cash and forward markets, involving hog futures because of this news," Fulton said.

 

As for the impact on the local Manitoba hog market, Fulton said it is more of a "wait and see" situation.

 

Fulton cautioned however, that the situation could change significantly if there are any actions taken by Canada's largest trading partners, including the US and Japan.

 

The movement of hogs between provinces has not been curtailed although all producers were on a heightened level of alert, said Neil Ketilson, general manager of Saskatchewan's Pork Development Board.

 

Ketilson agreed that the only real impact on producers has been prices.

 

"The price for hogs has gone from C$140 per hundredweight to C$125, based on the outbreak of H1N1 in Mexico," Ketilson said, noting that this was a fairly significant price break on top of already poor values.