Canada: Pork sector calls for essential service status amid port strike

Leaders in Canada’s pork sector are calling on the federal transport minister to give perishable agriculture products the same consideration and protection as grain.

The call comes as British Columbia’s port strike nears its second week, blocking the overseas export of Canadian meat products.

If not shipped out, Canadian meat products will end up going to waste, creating financial loss for the sector.

Canadian Pork Council chair Rene Roy said in a July 10 press release that they “are seeking the minister’s assistance to ensure perishable agricultural products, and farmers, do not suffer undue hardship from this labour action.”

“We believe a precedent already established for wheat is available to our agricultural industries,” Roy said.

“As representatives of Canada’s pork sector, we’re asking the minister to exercise his power as minister to ensure these products continue to move through all Canadian ports.”

Roy said in an interview that the pork council has been in communication with beef producers and other agricultural producers’ associations throughout the process.

Concerns are mainly over the meat’s perishability and where it will end up if not shipped out.

A majority of Canadian pork is exported to international markets, especially in Asia. Roy said this means packers and distributors in Canada will be left with an excess of meat at risk of going to waste.

“There are products that are already packed,” said Roy.

“This is a real problem because it’s not frozen right now. It’s fresh.”

He said that many packers have “limited storage capacity because it’s really hard to find contracts really quickly to other countries in a really short period of time.”

The pork council press release said unsold products will “create an environmental disposal challenge and lead to enormous waste and environmental damage — needlessly.”

Many Canadian pork processing plants set to close in the next few weeks could end up with a backlog of unsold meat products, which may lead to “millions of dollars in losses across agriculture very quickly,” according to the release.

Roy said that these closures were largely a result of hardships faced by the sector in recent years.

“The industry in general isn’t going through an easy period, both at the producer and at the processor level. We have experienced loss, financial loss in the last two years and this is one reason why we have seen closures. We are requesting this from the government right now because it’s not the first time,” Roy said.

“We have seen this happen in the past. Also, the strikes have affected us in the past.”

Roy said that this call is not a sign that the port council does not support the strike itself but is a means to prevent widespread waste.

“We are not denying in any ways the right of workers to go on strike,” he said.

“It’s just that for perishable goods, we have to find a solution. It is not acceptable in our society to let go to waste such quantity of food.”

Tags: meat products, export, grain, pork, Canada, порт, agriculture products, strike, international markets