Canada had to discard some of the poultry coming in from Ukraine because it didn’t meet standards, said Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials last week.
During testimony at the standing agriculture committee, vice-president of operations Philippe Morel said 24 containers of poultry arrived under the Ukraine Goods Remission Order and 11 had been inspected.
Morel said that number rose to 15 because some of the product was not up to par.
“Those inspections can take up to a month because they are complex,” he told the committee. “The samples are taken from the 10 first shipments. There are parts of the poultry that was received that was not standard, and of course we had to either destroy them or send them back.”
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The shipments totalled about 285,000 kilograms.
The order was implemented to allow Ukrainian goods tariff-free access for a year, given the invasion by Russia. It expires June 9.
In February, after meetings on the topic, the agriculture committee recommended the order not be renewed.
The committee heard the imports could disrupt domestic producers, who operate in the supply management system. Members urged rigorous inspection of imports.
Agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, who appeared at committee to discuss main estimates, said she has been following the situation but doesn’t make the decisions about renewing the order.
Morel said he didn’t know if more chicken would come from Ukraine because that depends on importers.
The agriculture committee also recommended that supply-managed products not be included in future orders.
That topic has been a larger debate recently given the progress of Bill C-282 through the House. The bill, if passed and approved by the Senate, would protect the supply management system in future trade negotiations.
NDP agriculture critic Alistair MacGregor asked if supply management was on the table in current talks with India.
“No, I can assure you that the supply-managed product will not be on the table in any way in our discussion with India,” Bibeau replied.
Bibeau was asked about a range of topics during her testimony.
She said she hoped the Canada Grain Act review would be complete by the end of this year but could not provide an exact date.
Saskatchewan Conservative MP Warren Steinley urged CFIA officials to reconsider traceability requirements for agricultural fairs and 4-H shows.
“They see this as a very big amount of red tape that they’re going to cut through and make it much more cumbersome to track animals,” he said. “They’re also very concerned about actually having to tag animals at these fairs if something goes wrong and (an animal) loses a tag.”
Officials said they are gathering feedback and there will be more consultation.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
