June/July 2001

New national code may pose challenge for smaller abattoirs

Some farmers worry that higher standards will squeeze some local slaughterhouses out of business. Not so, says Ontario's meat inspection chief

by DON STONEMAN and ROBERT IRWIN

A month ago, when the province lifted the license of Scotch Corners Meats near Carleton Place, in Lanark County, a spotlight was shone on provincial meat inspection.

Some farmers are worried that their local abattoirs, a key to many on-farm freezer trade businesses and an outlet for small livestock operators, will be squeezed out of business by higher and higher standards. And fingers are being pointed at a new national meat and poultry code adopted by provinces last December.

But, says Tom Baker, head of the meat inspection for the province, a national meat and poultry code is no threat to Ontario's slaughtering and packing plants. "Ontario is better positioned than most of the provinces," said Baker, before heading off to a meeting of provincial representatives in Calgary last month.

Like most of the provinces, Baker said, Ontario has some regulations tougher and some weaker than the national code.

The major goal is to provide a common standard of food safety for all Canadians. Baker says federal regulations must change before inter-provincial trade in meat can take place.

Baker is cautious about mentioning the role of freer international trade in bringing the code into place. He admits that he has heard the case put forward that an exporting country with lower standards than Canada could put a trade challenge in order to export here based on Canada's lowest standard and challenge other existing import controls.

"I'm not an economist," said Baker. "I don't know how real that is. I don't think it is a real driver in the process. Without food safety, you can't have any sustainable product growth."

In 1996, there were 240 provincially inspected plants, says the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. As of May 2, there were 209 such plants in operation. Total slaughtering from provincially inspected plants for larger animals shown below:

                                 1996                                   2000
Hogs                        500,817                              575,978
Beef                        191,763                              161,405
Sheep & lambs       131,990                              202,073
Goats                       13,987                                21,725

Laurie Nicol, executive director of the Ontario Independent Meat Packers Association, based in Guelph, says the cost of meeting standards is one factor leading to the closure of plants, Another is the age of the operator. An older plant operator won't make an investment in infrastructure if there is no one in standing in the wings to take over the operation, she says.

She asserts that, while fewer plants are operating than five years ago, the surviving are handling a greater total volume of livestock than previously, and are more financially viable. Last year, provincially inspected cattle slaughterings were 15.2 per cent of Ontario's total, compared to 15 per cent in 1973.

There are some plants, she says, that haven't had infrastructure improvements "since time began." Her organization represents about half of the provinces' processors. BF

© copyright 2001 AgMedia Co-operative Inc..

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