Feds move to offset possible meat shortage

Policy change not a ‘magic bullet’ to protect Canadians, according to one expert

WATERLOO REGION — The Canadian government has created a ministerial exemption to permit the sale of provincially-inspected meat and poultry across provincial borders to help offset possible shortages caused by COVID-19.

Only meat from federally licensed plants is allowed to be sold to different provinces or countries, and food retailers will need to apply for an exemption from the rule under this new policy, but the hope is it will ease the impact on grocery store shelves if more federal meat plants are forced to close due to viral outbreaks.

One food expert doesn’t believe the exemption will actually provide any short-term relief, however, given the sheer scale of production at federal plants.

“This isn’t a magic bullet that will protect us from the closure of a big plant,” said Michael von Massow, an associate professor of food agriculture and resource economics at the University of Guelph and the Ontario Agricultural College Chair in Food System Leadership.

Three federal plants in Canada supply more than 80 per cent of the country’s beef, von Massow said, and smaller provincial producers would likely struggle to fill that void if one or more of those plants were to close for a prolonged period.

“In the short term, I’m not sure if it’s a meaningful safety net,” he said.

Provincial processors tend to be smaller and serve regional or specialty markets, while federal facilities are typically larger and designed for higher volumes that meet international and interprovincial trade requirements.

Shoppers who buy meat from the large grocery chains are likely buying federally-inspected meat, von Massow said.

At least eight meat major processing plants in Canada have already been forced to close or reduce processing capacity in recent months after hundreds of workers contracted coronavirus.

That includes Breslau pork processor Conestoga Meats, which closed for a week in early May after seven people became ill. It’s the second-largest pork processor in the province and handles about 37,000 pigs per week.

The outbreak at Conestoga Meats is considered over by regional health officials, but more than 10 per cent of the workforce (112 cases out of the nearly 1,000 people who work there) has tested positive for COVID-19.

A significant meat shortage could increase prices and lead to less variety on store shelves. McDonald’s Canada, which normally uses Canadian beef in its products, said in April it would begin importing beef as the supply chain struggled to keep up with demand.

In an email to The Record, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said food retailers or wholesalers experiencing a meat shortage will be asked to reach out to their provincial or territorial authority to determine if the situation requires the exemption, and to obtain information about the application process.

The federal exemption was announced May 21 on the CFIA website.

“To date, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has not received a request for ministerial exemptions for the interprovincial movement of provincially inspected meat products from any province or territory,” the statement said.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs — the agency responsible for licensing Ontario’s meat packers — confirmed in an email there have been no applications for the exemption, but it has received several requests for more information about the process.

There are nearly 120 provincially licensed meat processors in Ontario, including about a dozen in Waterloo Region.

Ontario Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman “has been working with the sector to encourage collaboration while we work to support our inspection staff, stakeholders and operators to meet operational needs and protect public health,” the statement said.

“The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is investing in training to increase food inspection capacity and adding cleaning capacity to critical pressure points in the distribution system.”

This could be the first step in eventually easing trade restrictions on provincially-inspected meat, von Massow said — a move some in the industry have spent years fighting for.

Breaking down these barriers could also be more beneficial to small producers in the long run since it might make more economic sense for a plant in Kenora to sell to grocery chains 200 km west in Winnipeg than to stores 1,800 km south in Toronto.

“If we can move the animals across the borders, why not the meat that comes from them?” he said.