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Ottawa backs plan to highlight Canadian pork

June 16, 2008

A voluntary program for
Canadian processors and retailers to identify Canadian-grown pork on store
shelves will get $1.39 million in federal funding.

Southern Ontario MP Gary Schellenberger made the
announcement late Friday, saying the project "will provide Canadian
families with the information they want to choose home-grown Canadian
pork."

The voluntary program will
be available to all retailers and processors, the government said in a release,
but its primary target is to be larger retailers, whose pork supply comes from
across Canada.

Provincial pork
organizations will work together to create a consumer awareness program
encouraging Canadians to support domestic pork farmers and the Canadian economy
by buying Canadian pork, the government said.

"Consumers deserve
choice," said Curtiss Littlejohn, chairman of Ontario Pork, in Ottawa's release. "Up until now,
consumers didn't know if the fresh pork they selected from the meat case was
Canadian."

The funds for the project will
flow through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Advancing Canadian Agriculture
and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program.

"This initiative has
the potential to assist every pork producer in Canada by creating more demand for
Canadian pork," said Kim Turnbull, chair of the Agricultural Adaptation
Council, which delivers ACAAF funding in Ontario.

The announcement follows
the end on Wednesday (June 11) of a public comment period on the federal
government's new regulations for use of the terms "Product of Canada"
and "Made in Canada" on food products.

A "Product of
Canada" label would allow for little or no foreign content, except, for
example, minor additives or spices that can't be sourced in Canada.

A "Made in Canada" label would be used on a food
product made or processed in Canada, regardless of whether the
ingredients are imported or domestic or both.