Russians plan audit of Canadian meat plants

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

Canada’s third largest pork market, Russia, is closing the door to a majority of Canadian facilities previously approved to ship meat to that country because it wants imports that don’t contain the feed additive ractopamine. It isn’t known if other countries will follow the Russian example.

Martin Charron, vice president of market access and trade development for Canada Pork International, says currently about 44 Canadian pork slaughter plus cutting and deboning facilities are approved to export frozen pork to Russia. Canada Pork International is the pork industry’s market development agency.

Sixteen Canadian beef slaughter and processing plants are eligible to export to Russia, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) spokesperson Elena Koutsavakis says by email.

The Russians say they are cutting that list down to just 14 pork establishments, three beef processors and one plant producing both beef and pork. They plan to audit Canadian plants in May, Koutsavakis says.

Rosselkhoznadzor says on its website Canada and Russia were unanimous about the need for Russian and customs union officials to inspect Canadian plants interested in supplying meat to the customs union territory, which includes Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Charron says they’d welcome the Russians’ inspection. “It would give us a chance to further discuss with Russia the conditions under which Canadian pork can be exported.”

He described Russia as a very important market for Canadian frozen pork. Last year, Canada exported 207,000 tonnes of pork valued at about $492 million to Russia. Canada also exported 212,000 tonnes of pork valued at $877 million to Japan, the second largest market, while it shipped 320,000 tonnes valued at $981 million to the United States, the largest market.

Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian federal veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance service, announced on its website Tuesday it would post the list of companies soon. Charron says nobody has seen the list and without knowing which plants are on it “it’s very difficult for us to comment on the impact this will have.”

Canadian Cattlemen’s Association director of government and international relations John Masswohl says the Russians’ announcement in December has already reduced Canadian beef exports to Russia to a trickle. In addition, exports to Russia for the first two months of this year have taken a major hit. In January, compared to January 2012, export volumes were down 91 per cent. They were down 87 per cent in February compared to the same month the year before, he says.

In 2012, Canada exported 4,900 tonnes of beef and beef products valued at $12 million to Russia and that’s down from 8,000 tonnes valued at $23 million in 2011 and 10,000 tonnes valued at $25 million in 2010.

Masswohl says Russia has no scientific basis to ban ractopamine. “The product is safe,” he notes.

As of Monday, to be eligible to enter the Russian market, Canadian pork and beef must now be derived from ractopamine-free animals that were born and raised in Canada and come from establishments that are dedicated to slaughtering only ractopamine-free animals.

Koutsavakis says the Canadian government continues to work with Russian authorities in negotiating continued access for Canadian meat products. She also notes the Canadian pork industry has developed a ractopamine-free protocol and it has been approved by the CFIA.

Rosselkhoznadzor initially announced in December 2012 its plans to ban imported meat containing ractopamine. Charron says as an interim measure, plants approved for export to the European Union could still ship to Russia. But there are a very limited number of those establishments in Canada. A second option was shipments could be tested and confirmed free of ractopamine before being exported. But “that was understood from day one to be a temporary measure.”
 
Rosselkhoznadzor says the approved Canadian suppliers would be on the list provided that veterinary certificates are issued by the CFIA “solely and exclusively for products manufactured without the use of the growth stimulator ractopamine, which is barred in the territory of the Customs Union.”

The Russian agency said it would carefully consider Canada’s proposal to keep meat produced from animals fed ractopamine separate from those that haven’t been fed the additive, which is used to promote leanness in animals raised for meat.

Ractopamine has been approved for use in Canada and about 40 other countries around the world. The international food safety and quality standards setting body, Codex Alimentarius, has set an international standard for safe residue levels of the product and Canada’s requirements are consistent with that standard. BF