Pig producers are worried that proposed changes to Canadian livestock transportation rules will fail the practicality test.
Current proposals would reduce allowed time in transport to 28 hours from 36 hours for pigs. If time to the destination would exceed 28 hours, the animals must be given water, feed and eight hours of rest before continuing.
Producers want clarification on the location and availability of rest areas during transport, length of rest time, space requirement for each class of pig and the amount of feed and water required during the rest periods.
Read Also
August rain welcome, but offered limited relief
Increased precipitation in August aids farmers prior to harvest in southern prairies of Canada.
“I think that the industry would probably prefer to keep with the current ones,” said Alberta Pork chair Frank Novak about transport regulations for pigs.
“It could very well be that the science would tell you that you could actually increase (transport times), but the position of the industry is that we should actually use modern, current scientific data to talk about this thing, as opposed to things from 20 years ago or things referring to what Europe is doing — which is a completely different world — or referring to pseudo science things from animal rights groups.”
Novak said the Prairie Swine Centre and the University of Saskatchewan are studying swine transport to provide scientific data, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency should wait until that work is completed before defining new regulations.
“We need real data,” said Novak.
In a March 9 speech to southern Alberta pork producers, Novak said there are also questions about transport rules when pigs are shipped to the United States, as many are. Would the clock start again?
Novak said producers have been told that once across the border, Canadian transport rules would no longer apply.
“You can send pigs a long way if you handle them well,” he said, but that position is not well recognized.
He was among those who discussed the issue earlier this month with CFIA officials during a pork value chain round table meeting.
Novak said he learned that animal rights groups provided considerable feedback on transport regulations during the comment period that ended Feb. 15.
Now he is worried that those comments might supersede those from producers when the feedback is analyzed.
