Research dollars | Rory McAlpine warns that animal genetics 
won’t progress without an increase in publicly funded research
Canada’s food industry risks falling behind other countries because of the government’s declining support for publicly funded research, says the vice-president of one of Canada’s largest food companies.
As well, the increased emphasis on private research holds dangers for the industry.
Rory McAlpine, vice-president of Maple Leaf Foods for government and industry relations, told the Senate agriculture committee April 25 that while he and his company support research funding by the private sector, it has limits.
“I fear we have moved too far in that direction toward private,” he said.
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Intellectual property rights on new genetic developments held by private companies are not available for general research advancement in the public domain.
“In the case of the livestock industry, if a lot of that primary research is not done in animal genetics by a public source, I worry it will not be done and we will not get the same kind of benefits we did with the development of animal breeds in Canada going back many generations,” said McAlpine.
Although he was invited before the committee in part to talk about the role of traceability systems to advance the meat industry, the Maple Leaf executive said traceability “has a role but a small role.”
Research, tax policy, infrastructure and regulations are more important.
He flagged research as a particular concern, noting that the national science and technology strategy of 2007 did not mention the agri-food sector.
“How did we let that happen?” asked McAlpine. “How did we let (happen) the fact that Agriculture Canada now has 50 percent fewer scientists today than it did in 1992?”
He said international estimates are that agricultural research and development spending increased by 22 percent on average between 2000 and 2008. “In Canada, it has remained flat and of course, has declined in real terms.”
The industry executive noted that in the new federal-provincial agricultural policy framework, close to $700 million has been allocated over the next five years to support innovation. Industry will be tapping into that funding.
“However, this cannot disguise the fact that public funding in agri-food research has been declining in real terms,” said McAlpine.
He also noted that despite a strong trade promotion agenda by the federal government, Canada’s net trade in processed food products has gone from a $1 billion deficit in 2004 to $6.3 billion in 2011. In the past seven years, 54 food manufacturing plants have closed with 8,000 job losses and more to come this summer.
“Our processed food exports have grown but imports are growing much faster,” said McAlpine.
For the food industry, he said the billion dollar South Korean market is a particular concern.
Canadian free trade talks with Korea are stalled while the United States and the European Union both have deals that are introducing tariff reductions for their food product exports to the growing market.
