“Recent national and international events have forced us into taking this action,” said Larry Skinner, chairman, Ontario Pork Council, in a letter to producers. “In drafting this regulation, we have attempted to safeguard our collective access and competitive position in international markets, particularly in Japan. Moreover, we have attempted to secure the current and future health and viability of all our processors that purchase hogs from Ontario.” About 15 percent of Ontario’s pork production is exported to Japan.
According to a report by Michael Raine in The Western Producer, “the decision has not been supported by Manitoba, Alberta, or Saskatchewan Pork, but those groups recognize that one of the nation’s largest buyers is sending a signal to all Canadian producers that meat and bone meal products are no longer acceptable to their customers.” The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has not banned the feeding of meat and bone meal to swine or poultry in Canada.
The Ontario Pork Council commissioned Sparks Companies, Inc., and the George Morris Centre to investigate and analyze the economic impacts of the meat and bone meal ban in Ontario feed. Following the report’s release January 30, the council hosted a 60-day comment period and will convene a public hearing April 20-22, 2004, at the Holiday Inn in Guelph, to share information on the final report and gather input on the implementation of the regulation. The Ontario Pork Council’s initial assessment of the report is that there is a cost associated with the re-balancing of feed rations and providing verification of meat and bone meal removal. The report is available on the Internet at www.ontariopork.on.ca/issues/mbm/index.htm.
According to the report, just over five million hogs were slaughtered in Ontario in 2002. About 50 percent of market hogs are fed using complete rations, with about half of those rations containing meat and bone meal prior to the discovery of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Canada in May 2003.
“The implication is that just under 1.3 million pigs are affected by the MBM ban,” the report states. “An industry standard is that it takes approx-imately 250 kg [kilograms] of feed to raise a market hog. Based on this standard, approximately 316,000 tons of feed will be affected by the ban.”
The report goes on to say that while Ontario pork producers are generally supportive of the regulation as a means to maintain or grow their Japanese markets, the Ontario feed industry is concerned about the ban.
“Their concerns relate largely to the adherence to good science in making policy decisions, to the future profitability and competitiveness of their farmer customers, and to the processes and controls they will be responsible for maintaining under the ban,” the report states. Ontario processors of meats other than pork are not supportive of the ban, seeing it as a competitive disadvantage.
International Report - April 2004 Render