The vice chair of the Canadian Pork Council is calling for more research to ensure key changes proposed to Canada’s Pig Code of Practice are in the best interests of the farmers and the animals they care for.
The National Farm Animal Care Council received over 47 hundred submissions, during the 60 day public comment period which ended August 3, on changes being proposed to Canada’s Pig Code of Practice.
In its response the Canadian Pork Council expressed concern over proposed restrictions on the use of gestation stalls, changes in recommended space allowances for pigs and new requirements for dealing with painful procedures and euthanasia.
Canadian Pork Council vice-chair Rick Bergmann fears the proposed changes will add significant costs at a time when producers are already facing severe economic challenges.
There’s a condition for the whole code of practice process that changes should not put farmers out of business and create economic hardship.
In Canada we export our pork to over 120 different countries around the world.
70 percent of what we produce is exported and we haven’t had any concern or direction suggesting what we’re doing is not as good as it could be.
It’s a very competitive environment.
We’ve got neighbors to the south that don’t have these requirements that they’re being faced with.
Before we impose anything on producers or pursue something that is quite different from what we’re doing today we have to ensure that there’s proper research that is being done to ensure that what we are even thinking about does have value for the industry.
Bergmann would like to see the adoption of a code of practice that creates sustainability for the pork industry.
