GUELPH – The Chicken Farmers of Ontario invited everyone
involved in the chicken industry to a meeting here today, but barred reporters.
The meeting was the final in a series to update chicken
farmers about marketing board issues, policies and plans.
The district meetings were for farmers only; today’s meeting
was the only one open to a broader community, such as feed millers, chicken
processors, service providers and government officials.
Judging by the chicken board’s website and most recent
newsletter, they were told that the ban on trading live chickens with Quebec
has been implemented smoothly.
There are, however, rumours that CAMI International Poultry
Inc. of Welland is preparing a lawsuit, aiming to secure enough chicken to keep
the plant operating. A lawsuit would probably include a "stay" that would allow CAMI to continue procuring chickens from Quebec producers who have signed contracts to supply CAMI.
The Ontario chicken board would not grant CAMI birds to
replace the Quebec contracts it held; the board granted all other Ontario
processors supplies from Ontario farmers to replace birds they were buying from
Quebec producers.
The board has never said publicly why it refuses to supply CAMI.
CAMI International has developed a large clientele
interested in its Hong Kong style (feet and heads left on) birds, air-chilled
processing, hand slaughter and other specialties.
The ban on inter-provincial trade was negotiated by the
Ontario and Quebec marketing boards and associations representing
chicken-processing companies in both provinces and has been sanctioned by
provincial government supervisory bodies for both provinces.
CAMI is not a member of the Association of Ontario Chicken
Processors. The association's members include three large companies - Maple Leaf, Maple Lodge and Cargill - that dominate the Ontario and national chicken markets.
They have consistently tried to limit Ontario chicken production so they will have no trouble marketing all the birds they process. They will not, for example, grant permission for even the smallest competitors to increase their share of birds produced by Ontario farmers to serve niche and local markets.
It’s not clear how the provinces have been able to square
their approval of the trading ban in the face of their agreement to pursue free
trade.
