The
Canadian pork industry still faces some challenges to begin exporting to the
European Union under the new free trade agreement.
Last
week it cleared a labeling challenge.
Now
it needs to deal with the issue of antimicrobials farmers use when raising
pigs. A number of other countries, including Japan and the United States,
approve what Canadian farmers use, but not yet the European Union.
On
the labeling issue, Ron Davidson, who has been handling trade issues for the
Canadian Pork Countil, said “we’ll only be selling certain cuts from each
carcass, so it’s very important that we apply the EU health label only to the
boxes that are going to Europe, not to those that will be going someplace
else.”
Rick
Bergman, chairman of the council, said “the elimination of this barrier enables
increased sales, which is of utmost importance to a prosperous pork sector.”
“We
also use antimicrobial treatments in Canada which have not been approved by the
European Union so there is additional research required on the antimicrobial
part,” Davidson said.
