Frequently asked questions What is Canadian Pork Excellence? National platform created for Canadian pork producers to demonstrate their commitment to produce high quality pork by maintaining the highest standard in food safety, animal welfare and traceability practises New name introduced to cover the on-farm programs Canadian Pork Excellence is comprised of three major on-farm programs: PigTRACE, PigSAFE (CQA) and PigCARE (ACA) Why do we need on-farm programs? Provides assurance that on-farm food safety-related issues are addressed On-farm programs related to animal care demonstrate producers’ commitment to the care and welfare of their animals On-farm programs increase public trust and industry sustainability Provides data to producers to help manage on-farm activities Provides the foundation for the implementation of Canadian Ractopamine-Free Certification Program which enables producers to export to China What is PigTRACE? Traceability program developed to enable Canada to better manage potential disease outbreaks Also enables the traceability of pork products, an added value to some customers An important component of Canada’s public trust communications Provides a point of differentiation from other suppliers such as the U.S. What is PigSAFE? New name for the food safety component of Canadian Pork Excellence Based on the same Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) model used in the CQA program Retains CQA’s biosecurity elements and the Canadian Swine Health Board in National Standards from 2011 Why was the Canadian Quality Assurance (CQA) Program originally Developed? To demonstrate that Canadian pork producers are committed to the production of safe pork, specifically with respect to drug withdrawal times and the identification of hogs with broken needles To meet the needs of multiple programs and stakeholders. In 1998, federal and provincial governments, exporters and retailers all wanted to implement different on-farm programs that were intended to address food safety concerns What are the major accomplishments of the CQA program? Provided confidence to domestic and international customers through a validated “Farm to Fork” assurance of food safety in conjunction with the federal government’s meat inspection program Helped the Canadian pork industry secure existing customers and develop new ones—especially in $1 billion Japanese market where food safety assurance is critical Provided a base to develop other national on-farm initiatives such as the Ractopamine-free program which opened the $600 million Chinese pork market for Canadian pork What is Pigcare? New name for the Animal Care Assessment (ACA) Program An update to the ACA program to account for the introduction of the 2014 revisions to the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs Why is the code of practice included in the new CPE program? The codes of practice are credible and broadly recognized by governments and industry stakeholders as being reflective of common industry standards It is our engagement as an industry to reflect the animal care practises outlined in the code of practice By adhering to the code of practice, public trust and consumer confidence are elevated Why was it necessary to revise the CQA-ACA Programs? In 2012, the CPC Board of directors passed a motion to revise the programs based on the results of a 2010 survey of producers, program validators and processors The recommendations focused on improving the programs in four specific areas: tools to help producers, validation process, program material, management and administration of the program To keep up with changing technologies, standards and customer demands as they relate to food safety To ensure the updated Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs was accurately incorporated To streamline programs delivery Competing countries, such as the U.S., were updating their on-farm programs Why can’t food safety and animal care be separate programs? A sound on-farm program cannot exist without considering both animal care and food safety There’s a strong movement toward animal welfare in Canada and producers must be able to demonstrate how they care for their animals in order to reassure consumers and potentially avoid the introduction of more restrictive animal welfare regulation In order to be recognized under the CPE platform, producers must comply with traceability regulations, as well as PigSAFE and PigCARE programs requirements What is the difference between the Canadian Pork Excellence platform and the Verified Canadian Pork brand? The Verified Canadian Pork brand is a seal of quality that identifies Canadian pork as a superior product in stores and restaurants across the country and to importers abroad. The on-farm programs PigTRACE, PigSAFE and PigCARE grouped under in the Canadian Pork Excellence platform support the Verified Canadian Pork brand. The programs demonstrate producers’ commitment to raising high quality pigs. What will a successful program look like? Credible Streamlined and ease of use for producers Meets the needs of domestic and global customers Meets public trust expectations How are producers involved in the development of the Canadian Pork Excellence platform? Producers participate in the technical committees established to guide the development of PigSAFE and PigCARE Producers chair the Management Committee which provides direction to the technical committees Individual producers are piloting the program and will provide input to the Management Committee to inform the program design and next steps Producers make up the Peer Review Committee Producers, through their representative on CPC board, will approve the new programs