Glenn Black of
Providence Bay, Manitoulin Island, has filed formal complaints about the
chicken industry’s abuse of antimicrobials.
He has filed his complaints
with the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board, with the Ontario Farm
Products Marketing Council, with Ontario Agriculture Minister Jeff Leal,
federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz
and a number of reporters.
He says
large-volume chicken farmers increase the public’s risks from bacterial
infections because they increase the incidence of antibiotic resistance.
He recommends the
marketing boards be required to implement 10 recommendations:
1.
Expressly require prudent and reasonable actions by
all Boards and others who are created or regulated, including the quota-bearing
SM farmers;
2.
Expressly imposes a duty on all parties who are
created or regulated to always act in the best interest of the Canadian public;
3.
Expressly impose a duty for all parties who are
created or regulated to consider the Precautionary Principle prior to all
decisions, and periodically consider it for all duties; and apply those
Precautionary Principle when it is prudent to do so;
4.
Expressly legislate that all parties who are
created or regulated have no immunity, and have civil liability for their
criminal acts, bad faith, negligence, and their other tortious actions and
inactions;
5.
Expressly legislate that the Officers, and
Directors of all Boards who are created or regulated have unlimited personally
liable for their criminal, bad faith or negligent actions and inactions that
they personally do, and are done by their organization with their knowledge and
their approval or acquiescence while they hold their position;
6.
Expressly regulate civil and/or quasi-criminal
penalties for non-compliance or breach of these fiduciary duties and/or the
regulations.
7.
Expressly regulate mandatory planning and
implementation of regular internal quality and risk auditing by competent,
objective, and unbiased auditors for compliance and effectiveness; and external
auditing by competent, objective, and unbiased third party quality & risk
management auditors at least annually; require timely remedial actions to
prevent, contain, mitigate, and remedy non-compliances and significant risks;
and re-auditing of all remedial actions to ensure they are completed in a
timely manner, and are effective.
8.
Expressly regulate that any fine, liabilities,
penalties or damage awards owed or paid cannot be reimbursed by the public
purse; nor can an individual be reimbursed by their organization for any fine,
liabilities, penalties or damage awards owed or paid by the individual; nor can
any fine, liabilities, penalties or damage awards owed or paid be considered as
a valid cost in calculating COP (Cost of Production), reasonable profit,
overhead, levies, or other fee that gets passed on to downstream customers or
retail consumers;
9.
Expressly regulate that any interested party can
complain and/or appeal against the actions and/or inactions on these 10 issues
by all parties who are created or regulated;
10.
Expressly regulate mandatory pro-active and ongoing
disclosure in a comprehensive and timely manner by all parties who are created
or regulated, so as to be fully open, transparent, and accountable; including
but not limited to the internal and external quality & risk management
audits.
In
response to recent outbreaks of avian influenza, he recommends that the
marketing board step up biosecurity by requiring a number of things, including
screens over all barn openings and ventilation filters to prevent the escape of
particles carrying viruses.
