Canadian ag minister addresses Russian ractopamine ban during trade mission

by SUSAN MANN

A team of Russian veterinarians will arrive in Canada soon to check out meat plants’ protocols for segregating animals fed ractopamine from those free of the additive, says federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.

Canadian officials “are happy to show them the extent of what we can and cannot do when it comes to ractopamine,” such as keeping hogs and beef cattle separated on the line, he says. Ritz made the statements during a telephone press conference Thursday from Kazakhstan at the end of his trade mission to Russia and Kazakhstan.

Ractopamine is a feed additive recognized by international regulatory agencies as being safe, according to an Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada press release.

In December 2012, the Russians’ trading block – which includes Belarus and Kazakhstan – told its meat supplying countries it would no longer permit ractopamine residues in meat imports. Since then Canadian meat exporters have had to provide a veterinary certificate and an official guarantee from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for each shipment to verify it’s ractopamine-free.
 
Also since the ban was first announced, the Canadian pork industry has developed a ractopamine-free certification program to reassure its export markets. It includes requirements for farmers, feed manufacturers, transporters, slaughterhouses, processors and storage facilities.

In addition to Canadian facilities, the Russians are also inspecting meat plants from other countries that supply it with meat, including the United States, Mexico and Brazil.

Ritz says during the trade mission he met with Russian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov and discussed the ractopamine ban. The ban “has had a negative impact on Canada’s pork and beef exports,” Ritz says.

He says he strongly expressed Canada’s disappointment that despite collaborative efforts over the years the Russian government has implemented the ban “which is not rooted in sound science.”

The Canadian government will continue to work with industry representatives aggressively “to restore beef and pork access into the valuable Russian market.”

Ritz and other officials were on the trade mission to Russia and Kazakhstan to strengthen trade relationships with those growing markets and to promote Canada’s livestock. In 2012, Canadian agri-food exports to Russia were worth more than $562 million, while Canada exported more than $21 million worth of agri-food products to Kazakhstan, including $7.6 million worth of purebred cattle. During the mission, livestock industry representatives signed commercial contracts valued at $11 million. BF