Canada ag minister: COOL hurting US, Canada swine industries

Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has stressed the importance of ending the discrimination against Canadian hogs and cattle under mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) and emphasized the growing recognition that COOL is harming farmers and industry in the U.S. and Canada alike. Speaking to the U.S.’s National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), Ritz stressed that should Canada prevail in the compliance proceedings as anticipated, its government will seek authorization from the World Trade Organization (WTO) to impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. imports.
While in meeting with the NCBA in Denver, Ritz took the opportunity to meet with key U.S. meat stakeholders, business and government leaders to discuss next steps for advocating against COOL in the coming months.
“With the full support and active engagement of Canadian and U.S. industry, our government will continue to fight against this protectionist policy which is hurting producers and consumers alike. We will continue to use whatever tools necessary to achieve a fair resolution of this issue so that our livestock sectors on both sides of the border can realize their true economic potential,” said Ritz.
COOL continues to significantly disrupt the North American supply chain, Ritz said, creating unpredictability in the market and imposed additional costs on producers on both sides of the border.
Following Canada’s successful challenges of COOL at the WTO in 2011 and 2012, a WTO compliance panel was established on September 25, 2013, to determine whether the U.S. has brought COOL into conformity.

US pork export industry poised for growth

As demand grows and countries open their borders to allow for free agricultural trade, the U.S. pork industry is uniquely positioned to profit from pork exports, said Dermot Hayes during the 2014 World Pork Expo. 
“We’re all better off with trade,” stated Dermot Hayes, Iowa State University’s pioneer chair in agribusiness, as he began his afternoon presentation at the World Pork Expo titled, appropriately, “World Market Economics and the Importance of Trade.”
Watch a video of Hayes' presentation: www.WATTAgNet.com/168569.html.
According to Hayes, as demand grows and countries open their borders to allow for free agricultural trade, the U.S. pork industry is uniquely positioned to profit from pork exports. To date, a quarter of U.S. pork production is exported, a figure expected to grow due to low U.S. production costs.
While Brazil ranks No. 1 in its ability to grow least-cost pork, it is unable to bring its product to market because of its lackluster infrastructure. This weakness bumps up the U.S.’s ranking based on its ability to capitalize on its efficient production system and land availability.
For example, in some countries it’s cheaper to import frozen pork products and then import/grow the raw feed ingredients. The result: reduced production of commodity grains; better utilization of the land by planting more labor intensive, high-return products; and import what it’s not cost effective to produce.
Beyond value markets like Japan, who demand the best, most expensive cuts, the real opportunity for U.S. pork producers lies in the “fifth quarter” as they sell into international markets where “variety meats” can be sold at a premium.
Meanwhile, much of this progress hinges on the success of our ability to enter into positive trade agreements. The Trans Pacific Partnership has stalled due to Japan’s requests regarding “sensitive ag products."
“Japan wants duty on imported pork so it can give subsidies to their pork producers,” Hayes explained, demands the National Pork Producers Council deems “special treatment” that could set the precedent among all TPP members, costing the U.S. pork industry a lot of money. (Japan refuses to eliminate gate price, tariffs and protections.)

US exports live pigs to Spain for first time in 15 years

For the first time in more than 15 years, live breeding pigs from the United States have been delivered to continental Europe. In May, PIC successfully imported a total 45 grandparent boars for delivery to PIC Spain's Artificial Insemination Center (CIA) in Galicia, Spain and to customer CIA's throughout the country.
A few months ago, this import wouldn't have been possible; however, recent amendments to EU regulations now allow for the introduction of live breeding pigs from the United States.
Originating from PIC's Genetic Nucleus, APEX, in South Dakota; the breeding pigs departed from Chicago O'Hare Airport and arrived in Luxembourg. They were then were transported by truck to Spain.
"This shipment was a great team effort between the PIC teams, US and EU health officials," said Mike Walters, Director of PIC Export. "This and future planned shipments allows us to increase the rate of genetic improvement to our customers in Spain, and across Europe. This opens another pipeline from North America, in addition to our Canadian Genetic Nucleus, Aurora. With the continued exports from Canada, this shipment marks the first of several planned exports from the US to our PIC companies and partners throughout Europe; allowing PIC additional opportunities to meet the needs of the European market."

Smithfield poised to meet rising demand for ractopamine-free pork

Several of Smithfield Foods pork processing plants have been ractopamine-free since 2012 and its North Carolina facility, the world’s largest pork processing plant will be fully compliant on March 1 with new regulatory requirements from China.
The pork producer has been leveraging its integrated platform to supply ractopamine-free pork to export customers for some time. Combined, these two plants will supply the market with more than 43,000 ractopamine-free hogs per day. Hogs will be sourced from company-owned farms, as well as contract producers, and will be fed from feed mills that are entirely ractopamine-free.
C. Larry Pope, president and chief executive officer, said, "As the largest hog producer in the world, Smithfield is positioned to deliver differentiated products to meet customer specifications — both domestically and abroad.”
"The conversion of these plants to ractopamine-free is just one example of the flexibility that our vertically integrated model affords us in our ability to adapt to changing consumer demands in the U.S. and in international markets. We believe that this platform will continue to provide a competitive advantage for our company that will add value by fostering customer relationships to increase market share and generate growth," he continued.
In regard to the new third party verification requirement, Mr. Pope remarked that, "We urge the U.S. government to work to quickly and decisively resolve this issue. We are in close contact with the U.S. government to address this situation and our customers in China and Russia are also encouraging their respective governments to develop a protocol with the U.S. government that is acceptable to all parties."
Ractopamine is a safe and effective FDA-approved feed supplement used in the hog farming industry for many years to produce leaner pork. Smithfield will continue to produce pork with and without this supplement according to customer specifications.

Russia bans US pork, beef imports over ractopamine

Russia will ban U.S. pork and beef imports starting on Feb. 11 over concerns about ractopamine, a feed additive used in North America to boost growth and leanness that is increasingly controversial overseas, according to Rosselkhoznadzor.
Yevgeny Nepoklonov, deputy head of the Rosselkhoznadzor, addressed a letter to Ronald Jones, assistant administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the US Department of Agriculture. In spite of repeated appeals from the Rosselkhoznadzor, the United States has given no guarantees on the absence of beta-adenostimulator (ractopamine) in animal product consignments supplied on the Russian market.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that the United States continues exporting meat containing ractopamine residues, which are detected during laboratory monitoring of the imported product. Failure to supply reliable ractopamine-free meat results in undue additional costs spent by the Russian members of foreign trade on disposal, recycling or re-export of products non-compliant with the safety requirements.
As a result, the Rosselkhoznadzor considered it necessary to impose temporary restrictions on importation of pork and beef, pork and beef raw products and pork and beef finished products from the United States to Russia.

US pig meat exports hit record high in 2011

Total U.S pig meat exports for 2011 came in at 5.2 billion pounds, 23 percent above 2010 totals, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest report. Exports to China which saw 328 percent growth over 2010 (668 million pounds exported compared to 156 million pounds), was the main contributing factor, said the USDA. Chinese purchases of U.S. pork were a means used by China to tame pork price inflation which came about largely as a consequence of the Chinese pork sector’s ongoing problems in controlling various lethal swine diseases. It is possible that the incidence of such diseases as foot-and-mouth disease and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome will recede as Chinese pork production shifts from its current model, characterized by millions of small “backyard” operations, to a smaller number of larger, integrated, production units with stringent biosecurity and herd health programs in place. Until then, according to the USDA, it is likely that large pork exporters as the U.S., Canada, the EU and Brazil will function as “safety valves” for China, implying the continued possibility of high volume and price volatility as exporters adjust to the Chinese presence — or absence — in international markets. Japan was the main importer of U.S. pig meat, receiving 1.48 billion pounds in 2011, up from 1.284 billion pounds in 2010. Mexico was second, just ahead of China, with 1.038 billion pounds (slightly up from 2010's 1.037 billion pounds). Canada, South Korea, Russia, Australia, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Honduras rounded out the top ten 2011 exporters.

US pig meat exports to rise in 2012

U.S. pig meat exports may rise 2.7 percent in 2012 due to continued demand from overseas, especially from China, according to farm-industry researcher AgriTrends. 
Prices remain high in China, which will keep demand for imports strong, said Brett Stuart, co-founder of AgriTrends. "They're going to continue to be significant buyers of all imported pork, and specifically U.S. pork," he said. Demand from South Korea also will be strong. The country will buy 16 percent to 19 percent less pork than 2011, but the volumes will be as much as 35 percent above the five-year average, according to Stuart. The country’s outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2011 led to a culling of about 30 percent of its hog inventory, and some of those farms won’t come back into production.