Alberta Pork has been notified by their colleagues in Manitoba that new cross border requirements will be imposed on those transporting pigs to the United States.
In response to these new requirements, the following memo was issued by George Matheson, Chairman of Manitoba Pork:
“The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has officially notified Manitoba Pork that, as of October 1, 2015, the Agency will no longer allow livestock trailers returning from farms in the U.S. to enter Canada at any port-of-entry unless they have been cleaned and disinfected as outlined in the federal Health of Animals Regulation, Section 106.
During the initial phase of the discovery of PEDv in Canada, a temporary emergency protocol for empty swine trucks was established in Manitoba that permitted these trucks to cross the border to Manitoba cleaning and disinfection facilities. Over the objections of Manitoba Pork and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, the CFIA has now determined that PEDv in Canada no longer requires this emergency response.
Earlier this year, Manitoba Pork commissioned a study by Dr. Leigh Rosengren (an internationally recognized animal diseases expert), which clearly stated that washing livestock trailers in the U.S. would pose a very significant risk of increasing the number of PEDv cases in Manitoba. We firmly believe, based on recommendations from practicing veterinarians and staff of the provincial Chief Veterinary Office, that returning livestock trailers should be washed at certified wash stations in Manitoba. Transportation vehicles are the most common carrier of PEDv in the U.S. Our success in minimizing the spread of this deadly disease is due in no small part to the rigorous actions taken to properly clean our trailers. With the return to the old border requirements, the potential for new PEDv cases in Manitoba will be much greater…it is only a matter of time. Manitoba exports almost 3 million live animals per annum, involving 50 to 60 trailers per week going into the U.S.
Source : AlbertaPork