TORONTO, ONTARIO – Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz announced investments of nearly $2 million to strengthen traceability and biosecurity in Canada's pork industry. Minister Ritz made the announcement at the Canada Pork International Annual Meeting in Toronto.
The Canadian Pork Council will receive up to $1.6 million towards the ongoing maintenance and implementation of PigTrace Canada, an industry-led national swine traceability system. The Canadian Swine Health Board (CSHB) will receive up to $351,000 in additional federal funding to assist the industry with the long-term management of swine health issues and the prevention of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv).
Quick facts
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The investment in PigTrace is being made through the AgriMarketing Program, a five-year, up to $341-million initiative under Growing Forward 2.This investment builds on funding previously received through Growing Forward.
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Effective July 1, 2014, federal regulations have made swine traceability mandatory in Canada.
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A federal investment of over $29 million through the Canadian Swine Health Board (CSHB) helped the industry prepare to mitigate risks related to swine diseases, including the development and implementation of on-farm biosecurity standards and best management practices. Through this investment, over 90 % of Certified Quality Assurance hog production sites across Canada received training on the Farm-Level Biosecurity Standard to increase awareness and encourage producers to implement best management practices and manage disease risks on farm.
Additional links
Growing Forward 2 (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
AgriMarketing Program (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
BACKGROUNDER
Canadian Pork Council's Pig Trace Canada System
The PigTrace system is designed to track the movement of hogs and give officials the tools to quickly and effectively contain an animal disease outbreak or assist with the response to a food safety issue. Improved response times are critical to minimizing the economic and trade impacts and providing consumers and trading partners with the assurance that Canada's pork remains safe.
Effective July 1, 2014, federal regulations have made swine traceability mandatory in Canada.
Traceability systems are a key element in helping to protect the health of animals and the public and support food safety. Improved response times are critical to minimizing the economic and trade impacts and providing consumers and trading partners with the assurance that Canada's pork remains safe.
BACKGROUNDER
Canadian Swine Health Board – Management of Swine Health Issues
Federal funding will be directed towards preventing the spread of the disease through improved biosecurity in trucks and transporters and enhanced swine health surveillance. Activities will include:
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A Truck Wash Facility Audit Project which will audit 30 wash facilities to facilitate the development of best management practices and analyse the current biosecurity of Canadian wash facilities.
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A Transporter Benchmark Pilot Project which will audit approximately 100 swine transporter installations which will establish benchmarks, analyse the biosecurity of Canada's pork transporter sector, and propose operational procedures.
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The first phase of a multi-phase project to investigate, test, and evaluate the use of vacuuming as an new approach to cleaning livestock trailers.
- The development of an application to encourage greater use of the Canadian Swine Health Intelligence Network (CSHIN) by veterinarians across Western Canada. The information collected allows the hog industry to track new and emerging diseases across Canada.
Source: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
