July 14, 2006

Canadian group fears trade dispute from proposed US hog ban

A proposed Health Canada ban on US hogs treated with the antibiotic carbadox could result in a trade dispute with the US and cause retaliatory action against Canadian pork shipments to the US, according to an official with the Canadian pork industry.

"We have expressed our concern to Health Canada that the monitoring and restriction of US hogs due to the use of carbadox needs to be the least trade-disrupting," said Martin Rice, executive director of the Canadian Pork Council. "We will be joined by other stakeholders such as the meat council and other federal departments who also do not want to see an unnecessary trade disruption."

Rice noted that Japan, Australia and the European Union do not allow the use of carbadox, but still have imports from countries that do. Canada banned carbadox use in 2004 due to links to cancer, and is now proposing zero tolerance for carbadox residues in meat, which could include a ban on US animals treated with the antibiotic. Use of the drug is still legal in the US.

Rice said the pork council will continue to speak with Health Canada before a formal announcement is made, which he added will probably be in the late summer or early fall.

Canada currently imports more than 100,000 tonnes of pork from the US annually, Rice said, noting that this accounts for over 10 per cent of Canada's domestic consumption.

"We are concerned that there will be a perception of Health Canada expectations that US exporters might feel make the Canadian market more difficult than is necessary," Rice said.

"The US exporters would not have control over the production of pork that they export, from pigs that they do not own. They would not know the production process for the pigs that they're handling. If they were afraid that they were selling pork that was from animals that could be banned and they did not know if they should be in that category, they could be scared off from shipping to Canada anymore."

According to Statistics Canada, Canada exported US$1.2 billion in pork to the US in 2005. The total value of Canadian pork exports in 2005 was US$2.8 billion.