A sense of unease has settled on the hog industry as Health Canada contemplates further restrictions on the use of carbadox, an antibiotic no longer used by Canadian hog producers, but still available in the United States.
The sale of carbadox ended in Canada several years ago. Health Canada now is proposing a more complete ban on its sale and use in food-producing animals. That may affect imports of U.S. pork and set off a trade skirmish, depending on how the regulations are written.
The U.S. National Pork Producers Council has no details on whether the ban could lead to problems exporting pork to Canada.
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The council warned that trade tensions could arise if the requirements go beyond testing the pork for residues of the antibiotic.
“As long as it works off of science and doesn’t become a de facto trade hindrance, we certainly have in interest on moving forward on this,” said Neil Dierks, chief executive officer of the U.S. National Pork Producers Council. “If it goes beyond a testing regimen, it raises a whole set of issues.”
Earlier this month, Health Canada issued a communiqué to affected stakeholders indicating its plan to proceed with a ban on the use of carbadox in food-producing animals. The department’s veterinary drugs director vowed to have a regulatory amendment published in the Canada Gazette within a few months.
“Under the proposed regulatory amendments, all products found to have residues of carbadox would not be allowed to go to market in Canada,” said a Health Canada spokesperson.
The department regards desoxycarbadox, a metabolite of carbadox, as a carcinogen, meaning that it could lead to cancer.
The Canadian Pork Council plans to meet with Health Canada and other stakeholders later this summer. No carbadox residues were found during monitoring of U.S. pork shipments during the last several years, said Canadian Pork Council executive director Martin Rice.
He supported the government’s effort to keep carbadox out of Canada’s food supply, but he said undue restrictions should be avoided.
For example, demanding that the Americans have a system to certify their pork exports as free of carbadox could prove onerous, he said.
“We want to reach a mutual understanding of what would be least disruptive while ensuring no carbadox in the Canadian food supply.”
Dierks offered a hint of what might happen if the ban on carbadox hinders U.S. pork shipments to Canada.
“If we’re going to set up trade relationships that way, then should we expand and take a look at all those relationships and how they’re conducted?”
