The Rural Voice, 1985-07, Page 70PERTH COUNTY PORK PRODUCERS' ASSOC.
Queen's Park: BI•Partite Further Off
Until the recent election, a provincial bi-
partite stabilization program for hogs
looked like a sure thing for early summer.
To get the program in place requires
new legislation. The Conservative govern-
ment promised repeatedly to get the
legislation through quickly. With the new
Liberal government in Queen's Park,
however, the process may be slowed up.
All three parties are committed to the
legislation, which Is encouraging. In fact,
the NDP put bi-partite on the shopping list
of legislation they said must get
guaranteed passage to earn their support.
The Liberals have also been long-time
supporters of the idea.
The OPPMB moved quickly after the
election when it became apparent that the
legislation could be stalled. The board
wants the legislation and wants it im-
mediately.
On May 22, OPPMB Chairman Tom
Smith, Vice -Chairman Dave McDonald,
and Secretary Glenn Agnew met first with
the NDP and later with the Liberals. The
message was the same from both
meetings — both parties have promised
to act and act quickly.
The same was true when Tom Smith,
Directors Doug Farrell and Howard
Malcolm, and General Manager Helmut
Loewen met with the new Conservative
Agriculture Minister Ross Stevenson on
May 27. He also supports quick passage.
With all three parties supporting the
program, passage of the legislation
should be assured. The question is when.
The change in government will, un-
doubtedly, slow up the process. The
delay, however, must be kept to a
minimum because producers need help
now.
Producers can help to speed things up
by contacting their local MPPs.
Hog Industry Lobbys Ottawa
Fourteen of the board's directors joined
in a major lobbying effort in Ottawa on
May 29. In all, about 70 representatives
from the boards across Canada were in-
volved.
The prime objective was to make the
politicians aware of just how bad things
are in the hog industry. As the brief
prepared for the group said, "Canada's
hog industry is in a state of siege. How
long it can hold out has everyone guess-
ing. Most producers can tell you the
answer — not long."
The high point of the trip was a two-
hour meeting with the Conservative Rural
Caucus. Agriculture Minister John Wise,
International Trade Minister Jim Keller,
and 36 MPs had a frank exchange with in-
dustry spokesmen.
The outcome was a repeated commit-
ment by the government to do everything
it can to assure access to the U.S.
markets. As part of the process, the
government has promised to act quickly
to ban chloramphenicol. Mr. Wise also
said the government was committed to
have the tripartite legislation passed by
the end of June. Tripartite has gone to the
Agriculture Committee and the board will
be making a presentation to them.
Chloramphenicol
One of the outcomes of the trip to
Ottawa was an agreement by the provin-
cial organization to urge a ban of chloram-
phenicol. The OPPMB, like the other
boards, does not believe chloramphenicol
represents a health hazard to our
customers. They only agreed to call for a
ban because of the way the U.S. is using
chloramphenicol to stop our exports.
Federal Agriculture Minister John Wise
has agreed to do everything he can to
have the federal government ban chloram-
phenicol as quickly as possible.
More on Chloramphenicol
Manitoba 'ias banned the use of
chloramphenicol on livestock as a means
to get hog and cattle shipments moving to
the U.S. again, according to an article in
the Globe and Mail. The ban on the use of
the drug has been imposed by provincial
Cabinet.
The federal government is still examin-
ing the issue. On May 7, the Canada
Health and Welfare Department issued an
information letter on the subject inviting
responses within 60 days. Another letter
will be issued following analysis of the
responses to the first letter. In other
words, the process of banning the drug
takes time. The drug is very useful in
livestock husbandry. If it is banned, it will
be mainly because of the need to trade
with the U.S.A.
Privatizing the R.O.P.?
The provincial government has set up a
committee to look at the feasibility of
privatizing the R.O.P. program. So far,
there is no indication of what the govern-
ment has in mind. The board will have two
representatives on the committee, as will
the Ontario Swine Breeders' Association.
Quality Swine will also have one or two
representatives.
U.S. Trade Action on Canadian Hogs
Helmut Loewen, general manager of the
OPPMB, attended the U.S. Commerce
Perth County Pork Producers' Association
invite all Golfers involved in Pork Production
2nd ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT
Science Hill Golf Club, Wed., July 17. Tee off at 9 a.m.
$18/person (includes Barbecue). Contact by July 10, Clare
Schel gel 655-2750 or Tim De Block 347-2526.
68 THE RURAL VOICE
Department Hearing held in Washington
D.C. on May 9. The hearing was attended
by a large Canadian delegation (12
members). In total, about 40 people, in-
cluding some press, attended the hearing.
The case could be precedent -setting as
the U.S. tries to incorporate Canadian
domestic, non -export oriented programs
into the countervailable duty.
The Canadian Pork Council was
represented at the table by Howard
Malcolm, president of the C.P.C., Martin
Rice, and Bill Ince. Bill Ince, a
Washington -based lawyer, was the
spokesman for the group, reported
Helmut Loewen. C.P.C.'s main argument
revolved around the "general availability"
of the various government programs in-
cluding federal and provincial farm in-
come stabilization, grading, and R.O.P.
The position is that these programs are
not specific to hogs but cover many other
commodities and should, therefore, not
be countervailable.
It was also argued that 79 per cent yield
should be used in the calculations and not
71 per cent as was done. This would have
the effect of reducing the duty, if it must
be applied at all.
The Canadian Meat Council was
represented by Alan Sykes of the
council's law firm of Arnold and Porter in
Washington. The C.M.C. argued mostly
about the "upstream benefit" in making
the case that duties should not apply to
cut products. They also argued that if duty
must be applied, the dressing percentage
used should be 94 to 95 per cent because
that is how much of a live hog has some
value to a packer.
The N.P.P.C. presentation was made by
Mark Sandstrom, their Washington
lawyer. Most of the N.P.P.C. arguments
were made around the duty calculation
and the fact that the stabilization
payments were discretionary by govern-
ment and therefore countervailable. The
N.P.P.C. argued that the duties should be
higher as only high-value animals were be-
ing exported and these represented 52 per
cent yield from a hog. They felt, then, that
52 per cent should be used as the dress-
ing percentage.
In summing up the hearings, Helmut
Loewen said that the Commerce has
some decisions to make, namely:
1) Are our government programs really
countervailable?
2) If so, do benefits flow through to
packers and should cuts be dutiable?
3) What is the proper method to calculate
government programs into duty values?
A final decision was due from Com-
merce on June 10, 1985.
Perth County Directors meeting June 1
Roger Block, owner and manager of Mr.
Grocer in Stratford, shared some of his
thoughts and suggestions for marketing
pork. Possibly, the OPPMB should spend
more money on advertising and/or change