This week the federal government along with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the European Commission’s Department of Health and Food Safety agreed to an African swine fever zoning arrangement.
It's to allow for safe trade of swine products from disease-free zones in the event of an ASF outbreak.
It's part of an effort to protect Canadian pigs and the economy in light of the pace at which ASF is spreading through parts of Asia and Europe.
Zoning is an internationally recognized tool used to help manage diseases and facilitate international trade.
While there are zoning principles already in place with the EU that apply to ASF under the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the arrangement is an additional step forward in international collaboration in mitigating the risk of ASF while maintaining safe trade.
Pork is Canada’s fourth-largest agricultural sector, contributing about $24 billion to the Canadian economy annually.
