Canada-Concern over country of origin labelling.

CANADA-CONCERNS OVER THE COOL RULING.

The Canadian pork industry on Thursday asked the federal government not to delay in expressing the industry’s concerns regarding

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsask’s call for additional, voluntary meat

labeling practices.

Canadian Pork Council Chairman Jurgen Preugschas and Executive Director

Martin Rice appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on

Agriculture and Agri-Food Thursday as witnesses in the committee’s study on the

"Situation of the Red Meat Sector."

While the original issues that sparked the crisis in the Canadian hog

industry -- rapidly rising exchange rates and record feed prices -- have

moderated, new problems have taken their place, Preugschas said, according to a

press release from the council.

Mandatory country-of-origin labeling practices in the U.S. and limited access

to credit due to the economic crisis now threaten the livelihood of Canadian

producers.

On Feb. 20, Vilsack said the U.S. Department of Agriculture would implement

the country-of-origin labeling rules that were penned by the Bush

administration, but ask meat producers to go above and beyond the law by

complying with "additional voluntary labeling practices."

"In order to provide consumers with sufficient information about the origin

of products, processors should voluntarily include information about what

production step occurred in each country when multiple countries appear on the

label," Vilsack instructed meat producers.

The U.S. labeling law is scheduled to take effect on March 16.

"The Canadian government must communicate our concerns regarding the

voluntary labeling regime to the White House as soon as possible, before U.S.

processors are forced to make business decisions which will have market closing

effects on Canadian hog and pork exports," said Rice.

Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said following Vilsack’s Feb. 20

announcement that the additions to the labeling law are "causing uncertainty

and concern."

Preugschas noted during his appearance that the number of Canadian farms

reporting hogs has fallen 28% since January 2006, while Canadian hog

inventories since that same time have fallen by 18%.