May 24, 2013

Ontario Pork to collect fees on out-of-province weaner sales

Producers who ship weanling pigs to out-of-province buyers must pay CAD0.20 (US$0.19) per animal to Ontario Pork starting this month.

The notice of the fee was published Wednesday (May 22) in the Canada Gazette. Jim Weir, Ontario Pork's divisional manager of finance and administration, says the fee actually took effect April 30.

"We're engaging brokers and producers who are shipping direct" to collect the fees, Weir says.

The CAD0.20 (US$0.19) fee only applies to pigs weighing less than 56 kilogrammes shipped out of province.

Within Ontario, the marketing board already charges a market hog fee of CAD1 (US$0.97). "So we are not looking to charge the same hog twice," Weir says. The CAD1 (US$0.97) fee also applies to all pigs greater than 56 kilogrammes marketed to an out-of-province buyer.

Weir notes the board gained the ability to collect fees on all classes of pigs when it restructured more than two years ago. He says he did not have a firm idea of how much revenue the new fee would generate.

"We have done some early estimates; until we have a good feel under our belt I will hold back on saying what we think might come," he says.

The revenue will be applied to its share of the costs of delivering Ontario Pork's universal services, he says.

In 2012, the marketing board derived CAD4,982,639 (US$4.8 million) in revenue from its market hog check-off fee.