The Manitoba Pork Council is on the verge of launching a lawsuit against the U.S., but the organization needs documents from Canadian hog farmers to prove the proposed COOL legislation is a violation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
At an April 3 meeting of pork producers, the chair of Manitoba Pork, Karl Kynoch, repeatedly asked for help from hog farmers and industry representatives.
Kynoch said if anyone had a contract between a Canadian supplier of weanlings and American buyer that was cancelled because of the proposed mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) legislation, Manitoba Pork wants those documents.
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“When you end up in court, threatening a trade case, you’ve got to show hurt,” Kynoch said in an interview.
“What you need to have is something that’s actually signed by a packer or producer, saying that ‘I’m not buying your pigs due to country-of-origin labelling.’ “
Kynoch said an e-mail is not good enough. A signed document is required as proof that COOL is causing financial harm to Canadian hog farmers.
In the last several weeks, American buyers have cancelled contracts with Manitoba producers of isoweans, a move likely connected to COOL, which is expected to take effect Sept. 30.
“We’ve had numerous calls from weanling guys that have lost their contracts,” said Kynoch, who told the meeting that Manitoba Pork has hired a lawyer to work on the weanling issue.
A Manitoba hog broker who deals with Americans every day said his U.S. customers are backing away from Canadian hogs because they have to prepare for COOL.
“A lot of American customers buying Canadian isoweans say they are putting themselves at risk,” said Boyd Penner, who runs Southeast Marketing in Blumenort, Man.
Kynoch’s call to challenge COOL through NAFTA drew strong support from the crowd. Angry rhetoric was tossed around the room, including several hog farmers who said Canada should retaliate by selling its oil to China instead of the U.S.
“You’re cutting us off at the knees, so we need to cut you off at the knees,” said one producer.
Larry Friesen, Manitoba Pork’s director for the weanling exporters’ district, said COOL cuts directly against the principle of free trade.
“We invested a billion dollars (in Canada) and we’re all exporting isoweans into the Midwest, and feeder pigs and butcher hogs. And we did that on the basis that we had a free trade agreement.”
But, he noted, a legal challenge begins with hard evidence.
“Before you can go and say, ‘I doth protest,’ you have to have injury. And now the injury is here.”
