News . . . from the Nation's Pork IndustryNews . . . from the Nation's Pork Industry
For Immediate Release
December 4, 1998
Contact: Nick Giordano 202-347-3600 giordann@nppc.org
Steven Cohen 202-347-3600 cohens@nppc.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) today expressed satisfaction over the announcement that Canada will be opening its borders to imports of U.S. live hogs for slaughter. NPPC President Donna Reifschneider, a producer from Smithton, Ill., said the action, "while long overdue, is a significant step in the right direction."
Canada previously banned the importation of U.S. hogs for slaughter because of concerns about pseudorabies (PRV), also known as Aujeszky's disease. This porcine disease, which does not affect humans, can under certain conditions be transmitted between live hogs. Canada has agreed to 'regionalize' the United States so that states which are free of PRV (stages 4 and 5 states) can now export hogs to Canada for slaughter.
Reifschneider praised the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, USTR's Special Ambassador for Agriculture Peter Scher and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and their respective staff members for their hard work.
Reifschneider said that given exchange rates and other factors, she did not expect any significant quantity of U.S. hogs to go to Canada for slaughter at the present time. However, she said "the choice of sending hogs north will be very significant for certain producers, particularly in border states and will translate into increased hog values for those producers." She also noted that NPPC strongly believes in the practice of regionalization and has been very active in supporting the regionalization of certain states in Mexico as free of classical swine fever (Hog Cholera) for the export of pork to the United States. The U.S. intends to eradicate PRV from all U.S. herds by the year 2000, thereby providing these types of market opportunities to all producers. NPPC has been actively involved in representing U.S. producer interests in the eradication program.
The most pressing pork trade matter at the present time between the U.S. and Canada is "the staggering amount of Canadian hogs coming to the United States for slaughter," Reifschneider said. Over 4 million hogs, which represent over 20 percent of Canada's hog production, will enter the United States this year. Because U.S. plants are at full capacity, Canadian hog exports have contributed to the bottleneck at U.S. packing plants. Reifschneider expressed the hope that the Canadian government and pork industry will work to increase slaughter capacity, thereby keeping more Canadian hogs in Canada.
