Canadian Pork Industry Concerned About Carbadox Ban

July 26, 2006 — 

Martin Rice, executive director for the Canadian Pork Council, has expressed concern that an impending ban on pork products from pigs fed carbadox might lead to a trade dispute with U.S. pork exporters.

Health Canada banned sales of carbadox in 2001 citing concerns regarding studies showing a cancer risk in rats. This action was followed recently by a proposed regulation banning carbadox in food-producing animals to prevent potential residues. The regulation is expected to be published in the next three months.

Carbadox continues to be sold in the U.S. If Health Canada bans the drug from pork imports, the onus will fall upon U.S. pork exporters to keep track of which products were treated with the antibiotic, Rice said.

The Pork Council does not consider the drug to be a public health concern. "There is no evidence from residue monitoring that there's any carbadox residues in U.S. pork coming into Canada," Rice said.

Canada and the United States are major pork trading partners. In 2005, Canada imported nearly 130,000 tonnes of pork, 94 percent of its total pork imports, from the United States. In the same year, 38 percent of Canada's total pork exports went to the United States, Rice said.

Source:
Reuters Canada, July 14, 2006