Hog industry groups across the West fear Canadian Food Inspection Agency rules on washing trucks inbound from the United States will increase risk that porcine epidemic diarrhea virus will infect Canadian pigs.
The CFIA served notice that as of Oct. 1, all pig transport trucks and trailers coming from the U.S. must be washed on the American side of the border.
That means it will cancel an emergency protocol in place in Manitoba that allowed trucks to cross the border, be sealed and then taken directly to wash facilities for thorough cleaning.
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Requiring that trucks and trailers be cleaned on the U.S. side of the border sounds like a good idea, but there aren’t enough U.S. truck washes, many of them use recycled water that could carry the PED virus and U.S. washing protocols may not be as stringent as those in Canada.
That will require hog producers to pay the cost of additional washing on the Canadian side.
PED virus is endemic in the U.S., where it has killed millions of piglets. Canada has limited its cases through strict biosecurity and truck washing, and no pigs have been infected with PED in Saskatchewan, Alberta or British Columbia.
In a conference call today, Andrew Dickson of Manitoba Pork said his agency is encouraging producers to contact their MPs and object to CFIA plans.
He said the Manitoba government and pork industry officials asked the CFIA to continue the emergency protocol in Manitoba without success.
In a letter to producers, Manitoba Pork chair George Matheson said the CFIA “has now determined that PEDv in Canada no longer requires this emergency response.”
He said the CFIA’s plan will increase the risk of more PED cases in Manitoba.
“It is only a matter of time. Manitoba exports almost three million live animals per annum, involving 50 to 60 trailers per week going into the U.S.”
On the return, those trucks also go to other provinces, including the three that have so far remained free of PED infection.
Matheson said in his letter that the change will also create export difficulties because trucks will be stalled at U.S. washing facilities. Many U.S. truck washes do not accept trucks with bedding inside, which is commonly used by Canadian hog shippers.
As well, regulations require that trucks and trailers coming from slaughter plants need to be scraped out but not necessarily washed.
In its notice to industry, the CFIA said it plans to apply livestock vehicle regulations that have been in place since the mid-1990s and will cancel the emergency protocol.
It said the PED situation “no longer merits an emergency response.”
Contact barb.glen@producer.com
