Andrew Dickson-Manitoba Pork:
Fortunately through the help of the federal government of Canada and Mexico got involved we've been able to resolve this.
We've had good allies in the United States and, because of our relationships we've had with the local groups like the Iowa Pork Producers and Minnesota Pork Producers, they put pressure to try and get this matter resolved.
Minnesota and Iowa, between the two of them, those two states account for almost 50 percent of all the hog production in the United States.
By focusing on them at the state level that sort of filtered up into Washington.
I can't emphasize enough that in the U.S. most politics is local and there's no question their representatives in Washington are very attuned to what's happening in their home states so that's why we focus on them.
Dickson says the U.S. and Canadian industries are dealing with a range of common issues such as disease management, traceability and pressure from special interest groups and, by building good working relationships with producers in key states, we can build trust and work toward common goals.
He suggests the experience with Country of Origin Labelling has brought the pork organizations in Canada and the U.S. together and we need to learn from that and focus more on opening up international markets.
Source: Farmscape