The federal government is proposing to waive the 30-day quarantine requirement for hogs imported from American states certified to be pseudorabies-free.
Government officials say it is safe. Hog industry officials say they support it as a way to avoid a charge of unfair trade practice against Canada.
Critics, led by the National Farmers Union and possibly including some swine breed associations, worry that Canada’s status as a pseudorabies-free country is being jeopardized in the interests of trade.
“I think there are unnecessary risks and we are being told we have no choice because of trade agreements,” NFU Ontario spokesperson Peter Dowling said last week. “We will oppose this.”
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Pseudorabies is a highly contagious viral disease which can kill newborn pigs.
Under federal proposals, published in mid-June in the Canada Gazette for a 60-day comment period, it would be a controlled and limited import.
The hogs could be brought in only under strict rules of inspections and quick disposal, including a requirement that they be segregated and slaughtered within 24 hours.
None of the major American hog states would yet qualify for eligibility under the U.S. pseudorabies eradication programs.
“We believe with these rules, there will be negligible risk of introducing pseudorabies to Canada,” said Canadian Food Inspection Agency official Bill McElheran. “In today’s society, it is not possible to guarantee that nothing will ever go wrong but it would be as safe as could be humanly arranged.”
Supported by the Canadian Pork Council, the government says failure to open up the border to American hogs deemed pseudorabies-free could lead to trade retaliation by the United States against Canada’s lucrative export of hogs south.
“In accordance with established agreements under NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and the World Trade Organization, Canada cannot ban the entry of animals unless they present a significant disease risk,” said a letter from former agriculture minister Ralph Goodale to the NFU.
“Should Canada decide not to import, we could be challenged under NAFTA and the WTO and our export markets could be jeopardized by our failure to act.”
For five years, the Canadian Meat Council has been lobbying for an end to the 30-day quarantine period for hogs from states considered pseudorabies-free. Almost half the American states qualify but few have large hog populations or are near the Canadian border.
Some of the larger hog states, including Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Ohio, are considered “stage 3” states and will be reviewed for eligibility after one year.
“It is a question of access,” said Larry Campbell, secretary of the CMC. “We don’t expect a lot of our members to use this but some will. There is unused capacity in our plants and one way to make use of it is to access hogs from the U.S. We expect there will be opposition but the risk is negligible.”
For Dowling of the NFU, that is not reassuring enough. He said there is a worry about truckloads of American hogs coming into the country and perhaps sitting beside the road if there is a truck breakdown.
“I think there is a real risk there for animals on farms nearby,” he said from his Gananoque, Ont. farm. “Any hogs within nine kilometres could be affected if the imported hogs are infected. I think the government is being cavalier about the risk.”
He said the NFU will be filing an objection.
Defenders of the government proposal note hogs only will be imported from states deemed pseudorabies-free. They will be tested there, at the border and in Canada.
But Dowling said there is no guarantee that pigs did not move into that state from another state with the disease in its early stages.
After the 60-day comment period expires in mid-August, the government will consider the comments and make a final decision in the autumn.
