Ottawa, February 24, 2012 —The Canadian pork industry would like to acknowledge the Canadian Government’s efforts to further Canada’s trade interest at a recent meeting in Washington.   Canadian Pork Council’s Chair Jean-Guy Vincent and Vice-Chair Rick Bergmann joined Canada’s Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Gerry Ritz in Washington for an important roundtable discussion with American pork industry representatives on strengthening the North American integrated market for pigs and pork.

“The Canadian swine industry is very supportive of cooperation activities that would help to eliminate or reduce unnecessary regulatory divergences between Canada and the United States and find new ways to work together to benefit our integrated hog and pork industries,” stated CPC’s chair Jean-Guy Vincent.

The pork industry roundtable meeting with Minister Ritz was an opportunity for the CPC and Canadian Meat Council  to discuss with their American counterparts topics of mutual interests such as, the US  Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) dispute, Canada’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership discussions, animal identification and traceability, the Regulatory Cooperation Council efforts to implement the harmonization of food safety standards and tolerances, common efforts to preserve science-based approach to dealing with food safety standards and common approaches to zoning.

Canada enjoys many advantages in the raising of hogs and production of pork; including stable feed supplies, excellent animal health status, and very high standards of food safety and quality. Great opportunities exist in the long-term for increased sales of pork in the Asia-Pacific region and the European Union, as well as in Latin America and Eastern Europe.  Canada is the world’s third-largest pork exporter that represents 20% of world pork trade and exported to over to over 120 countries in 2011.  Maintaining existing pork markets and opening up new market to pork is critical to the Canadian hog industry.

The CPC serves as the national voice for hog producers in Canada. A federation of nine provincial pork industry associations, our organization’s purpose is to play a leadership role in achieving and maintaining a dynamic and prosperous Canadian pork sector.

For more information, contact:

Gary Stordy
Public Relations Manager
Canadian Pork Council
613-236-9239 Ext. 277
stordy@cpc-ccp.com

 

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