Donald Martel, ministre de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec, and the Honourable Trevor Jones, Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness, jointly announce, in collaboration with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the upcoming launch of a pilot project aimed at improving access to slaughter services for cattle producers in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region.
The pilot will allow select local Québec producers in Abitibi-Témiscamingue to have a small number of cattle slaughtered at a nearby provincially licensed and inspected facility in Ontario, and then retail that meat in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region.
This pilot addresses a very real challenge faced by many cattle producers in Abitibi-Témiscamingue due to the limited availability of slaughter services in the region. Producers have been required to transport their cattle over long distances to access slaughter services, resulting in additional costs and logistical constraints.
The pilot was established following direction from federal, provincial and territorial agriculture ministers to explore ways to reduce barriers to internal trade, such as in rural border towns. This two-year pilot is a coordinated approach among the governments of Québec, Ontario and Canada to test a small-scale, targeted, safe, and regionally adapted solution. All meat traded under the pilot will be clearly identifiable and fully traceable in the marketplace.
The pilot will address the issue of slaughter capacity while maintaining high standards for food safety. By improving access and generating shorter supply chains, the pilot is expected to improve the efficiency of the supply chain and improve the promotion of local meat products to consumers in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, with the direct support of their neighbouring province of Ontario.
The CFIA is proposing amendments to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations to reduce barriers to the internal trade of red meat when there is unmet slaughter capacity that is impacting economic and food security. Lessons learned from the pilot will inform the development of the final regulations. The complete text of the proposed regulations is available in the Canada Gazette, Part I.
