WINNIPEG (Staff) – Pork tissue samples from Manitoba may soon be tested inside the province for drug residues, with the aim of ending costly delays caused by shipping.
Manitoba Pork est. has submitted a proposal, which must be approved by federal and provincial governments.
The pork industry here wants its own drug residue test facility to complement a soon-to-be-announced quality assurance program that deals with the issue “right from the door to the packer,” said Rick Mason of Manitoba Pork, the provincial pork marketing board.
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Now, random samples of pork tissue from federally inspected plants are sent to Saskatoon to confirm whether they test positive. There is a three-day delay, so by the time plants find out that a sample has tested positive, it is not usually possible to find the other hogs from the same producer shipped at the same time.
This creates a potential for pork with drug residues to reach consumers in Canada and in vital export markets. Testing the samples in Winnipeg could help reduce the risk.
Mason said the federal and provincial governments are aware of the proposal, but added he has no way of predicting whether it will fly. However, he said other parts of the quality assurance program that take measures “one step further” will be put into place rapidly:
- Producers whose hogs test positive are restricted from shipping for certain time periods, depending on the situation. These restrictions will last two to three times longer under new rules.
- Currently, when producers have more than one infraction during a year, they face heavy fines. Mason said these are soon to become much higher.
- The board will continue to educate producers about drug residues through newsletters and meetings.
- Producers will continue to be informed when their hogs test negative for residues, as an extra reinforcement for the message.
