Trade with China was a big focus for the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) in 2019.
"In June of this year is when the trading doors closed for Canada in regards to product going to China and that was a major blow to our sector," said CPC Chair Rick Bergmann. "Doors are somewhat open right now and we're able to have some trade where we can resume and are able to provide continually to that country."
Bergmann says they saw a lot of volatility in pork prices in 2019.
"The pork pricing in Canada is priced based off of the U.S. market, so naturally when the U.S. is going through challenges, that affects our price."
He notes as a result, there's been discussion around having a Canadian-made pricing mechanism.
Bergmann adds a lot of energy was spent over the past year on keeping African swine fever out of Canada.
"We're in the process of building a plan to address some of the concerns. We're meeting a fair amount with the CFIA and with our government trying to ensure that if in fact there's a negative like this that would come to our country that we would be prepared. There's a lot of work right now being focused on prevention and ensuring that we can continue to have a good health status here."
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