The Rural Voice, 2003-01, Page 19per cent to retail and 49 per cent to
food services which does not need to
be labelled.
The fact that poultry isn't included
in the program while beef and pork
will face costs of $2-$3 billion to set
up audit programs, to meet COOL
requirements will give poultry a
bigger edge at the meat counter.
Dunford said. That cost is there
whether the animal is born and raised
in the U.S. or not, she pointed out.
But there's a strong lobby in the
U.S: against COOL, Richards said.
The National Pork Producers Council
is concerned because barns may go
empty without imports of Canadian
weaners.
The American Meat Institute
called the program "the most costly,
cumbersome and complex labelling
program in history."
Canadian producers are looking
for the appropriate trade challenges it
the program does go ahead, Dunford
said.
The scale of the potential problem
in pork production was outlined by
Richards who said 74,000 feeder pigs
and 35,000 market hogs a week go
from Canada to the U.S. at this point
with Ontario producers sending about
25,000 feeder pigs and 8,500 barrows
and gilts to U.S. buyers. "American
producers like the pigs and U.S.
processors want them," he said of the
product. Still, though the numbers
seem large, they represent about
three hours kill for one large U.S.
processor, Richards said.
The one good thing is that the
Canadian industry knows when the
changes will go into effect and can
make preparations to deal with the
issue, he said.
There's also the possibility that
Ontario's pork producers could
benefit from the system if a strong
branding program was begun.
He noted it hasn't hurt New
Zealand to fly in lamb from half way
around the world and they are proud
to put their flag on it.
"You're probably going to see
more branded product," he predicted.
"If you're going to be labelling
anyway you might as well brand it."
Though Canada is the largest
exporter of pork in the world, our
industry is small compared to the
U.S. system, he noted, meaning
Canada can adapt quickly to
changing market conditions.0
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