- Canada’s meat processing industry of beef, pork, poultry, veal and lamb is our largest
food processing sector. The industry’s annual sales are over $21.3 billion
and it employs over 67,500 people. Canada’s meat processing
industry is made up of over 400 federally registered establishments, often
located in rural settings adding
jobs and important economic activity to
the life of rural Canada. The
industry is
active in virtually
every part of the country, with major
concentrations of firms found in Alberta,
Manitoba, Ontario and
Québec. Over 95% of Canada’s meat
processing comes from federally registered facilities.
- Canada’s
meat industry recommends that the
Government of Canada
create
a new “time limited” Food Safety Tax
Credit based on eligible
expenses
for Canada’s food processing industry for
a safer food
supply
for Canadians. Many new processing
technologies, packaging
and
testing equipment are available to improve
food safety.
Expected
cost is $170 million per year.
- Canada’s
meat industry recommends that the
Government of Canada not charge meat
products inspection fees to federally registered
meat processing establishments. Expected cost is $21
million per
year.
- Canada’s
meat industry recommends that the
Government of Canada reinstate
the Abattoir Competitiveness and the Slaughter
mprovement
Programs to offset the cost of the
2007 enhanced
ruminant
feed ban regulations and to strengthen
the competitiveness
of the red meat industry. Expected
cost is $30 million per year.
- Canada’s
meat processing industry faces constantly
rising regulatory and customer expectations
for food safety. At
the same time food safety risks are
constantly evolving as seen in Europe’s
E coli crisis. Companies are
investing in
rigorous new systems of third party
food safety certification and investing in
equipment, processing
technologies and
laboratory testing facilities. Investment must be
accelerated to prevent food safety problems
and
gaining access to sophisticated markets
like the US, EU and Japan requires
world class food safety systems.
A “time
limited” tax credit would be much
more effective than various small grant
programs currently available and avoids
the problem of governments picking winners
and losers.
- Canada’s
meat industry recommends that the
Government of Canada create a new “time
limited” Food Safety Tax Credit based on
eligible expenses for Canada’s food
processing industry for a safer food supply for
Canadians. Many new processing
technologies, packaging and testing equipment
are available to improve food
safety. Expected cost is $170 million
per year.
- Canada’s federally inspected meat
processing industry is by far the
most regulated of all the food processing
sectors. The Meat Inspection Act and Regulations
are extensive and unlike other food
sectors meat inspection is regular and
mandatory. The Canadian Food Inspection
Agency charged $21 million in 2009/2010
to processors for meat inspection fees.
Fees for inspection services, export
certificates, label approvals, etc constitute a
competitive
disadvantage to Canadian federally
registered meat processors. These
fees are in addition to
growing staffing costs to deliver programs
like the HACCP‐based Inspection (HIP)
program; the Compliance
Verification System; and the significant
increase in mandatory pathogen testing
requirements such as the new Listeria
Control Policy . This is in sharp
contrast to American processors and
Canadian provincially inspected
meat processors who are not subject to
these same additional costs.
- Canada’s
meat industry recommends that the
Government of Canada not charge meat
products inspection fees to federally
registered meat processing establishments. Expected cost is $21 million per
year.
- In July of
2007 Canada’s enhanced ruminant feed ban
regulations came into effect. These
new regulations require
the removal and disposal of certain
ruminant materials that were previously
allowed in the non‐
ruminant animal
feed supply. These requirements impose
tremendous ongoing costs and lost revenues
to our
beef packing sector not faced
by our American competitors. The Slaughter Improvement
Program was a highly
successful
three‐year, $50 million dollar national
program delivered by Agriculture and Agri‐Food
Canada that
provided slaughter facilities with
up to 50% of eligible
costs. Its
aim was to strengthen the competitiveness
of
the
red meat industry by providing interest‐free,
conditionally repayable contributions to support
investments
that will improve and modernize slaughter
operations as well as enhance slaughter
capacity in regions that
have
a demonstrated regional gap that is
constraining sector growth.
- Canada’s meat
industry recommends that the Government of
Canada reinstate the Abattoir
Competitiveness and the Slaughter Improvement Programs to
offset the cost of the 2007 enhanced ruminant feed ban regulations
and to strengthen the competitiveness of
the red meat industry. Expected cost is $30 million
per year.
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