August 18, 2009

The Canadian government is delivering a comprehensive restructuring plan for pork producers by investing in key marketing initiatives to aid the struggling sector.

The key marketing initiatives are set to get more customers buying Canadian pork, providing government-backed credit to help viable operations weather the current economic uncertainty and helping struggling operations to transition out of the industry.

The new initiatives announced include:

• An International Pork Marketing Fund of CA$17 million for market research, promotion and access initiatives to find new customers for Canadian pork products.
  
  
• Long-term loans with government-backed credit that financial institutions can offer to allow viable hog operations to restructure their businesses.
  
  
• A Hog Farm Transition Program to allow producers to tender bids for the amount of funding they need to transition out of the hog industry and cease hog production for at least three years. This programme will invest up to CA$75 million to gradually reduce production and oversupply issues.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada officials are working closely with the pork industry and financial institutions to finalise programme details.

These new initiatives respect Canada's commitments made under international trade agreements and ensure Canadian pork producers will continue to have access to market opportunities around the world.