SASKATOON – Canada’s federal and provincial agriculture ministers want to supplement opportunities from international market openings by creating more domestic markets for Canadian livestock producers through more interprovincial trade.
Details are to be worked out after the general objective was announced July 8 at the end of the annual summer ministers’ meeting.
“Today, ministers agreed to create a road map that would investigate how producers can begin to share their high quality T-bones or pork chops with their neighbours in the next province,” federal minister Gerry Ritz told a news conference. “This is a long overdue, practical and common sense initiative. Pilot projects will help map the way forward by examining the costs and benefits for small-and medium-size slaughter facilities to explore interprovincial market opportunities while remaining within Canada’s high domestic standards.”
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“We certainly share the objective but honestly, we don ‘t know what they have in mind,” Canadian Cattlemen’s Association trade and government relations official John Masswohl said July 9.
A hurdle for domestic interprovincial meat trade has been a national rule that meat from provincially regulated plants cannot cross provincial borders. Only federally regulated plants that meet international export standards can sell between provinces.
Ritz insisted that the plan is not to reduce those standards for interprovincial product movement.
“We want to maintain the safety of our food supply,” he said at the news conference. “What we’re looking at doing is lifting up some of the provincial processing and abattoirs to that level.”
He said it would be voluntary and he did not indicate if federal or provincial money would be available to pay for upgrades.
“They’ll do their own cost-benefit analysis as to whether these upgrades would be worthwhile to start to export to other provinces,” said Ritz. “We certainly know there’s a demand for it and we’re ready to help facilitate it.”
The CCA issued a statement calling the objective of an increase in interprovincial sales “an important step in maintaining the competitiveness of the beef business in Canada, especially as the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) made changes to allow interstate trade of state inspected beef last year.”
Masswohl noted that there are interest-free loans through the federal Slaughter Improvement Program to help slaughter plants expand their capacity but he said it is not clear if that is what the government has in mind or if other programs are in the works to raise standards in slaughter plants that do not meet federal standards.
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture said any plan to expand interprovincial meat trade “should not result in a lessening of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s federal food safety and quality standards, which are key to maintaining consumer confidence in the safety of Canada’s food supply.”
