Fairs, Exhibitions and Agricultural Societies raise concerns about proposed changes to Livestock Traceability Regulations

Fairs, exhibitions, agricultural societies, and their provincial and national associations are asking anyone who is affiliated with livestock at animal shows to submit feedback on the proposed amendments to Part XV of the Health of Animals Regulations, expressing concerns about the potential impact on their industry.

The objective of the national Livestock Identification and Traceability program is to provide accurate and up-to-date information on livestock identity, movement, and location to mitigate the impact of disease outbreaks, food safety issues, and natural disasters. While our industry supports the program and its objectives, we are concerned that the proposed changes would place an increased burden on their operations, which we cannot bear.

Photo courtesy Big Country Agricultural Society, Oyen. Source: Canada Fairs

“We agree that supporting a streamlined national traceability system is essential to consumer confidence and animal health and safety,” says Kryssie Thomson, Interim Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions (CAFE), “We are happy to support that in ways that do not jeopardize the survival of our members, and in ways that are efficient and make sense.”

More than 5,000 animal events across Canada are at risk, with more than half of those involving 4-H or youth because more than ¾ of fairs, exhibitions and agricultural societies surveyed say they will be negatively impacted by the proposed requirements, and will subsequently have to cancel shows.

Key areas of concern include:

Animal movement

The CFIA is proposing that fairgrounds would be responsible as the intermediate site, to record animal/carcass movements to/from the fairgrounds within seven (7) days to the responsible administrator.

83% of people involved in shows and events with animals are volunteers, dedicating an estimated 844,000 hours annually across Canada to these programs, and are already facing volunteer shortages for the work that currently needs to be done.

Two thirds of exhibitors have said they would be willing to be responsible for reporting their animal movements to/from the fairgrounds if the process was simple and direct.

Therefore, we propose that the movement of animals to/from fairgrounds be reported by the farm of origin. The farm of origin would continue to be responsible to ensure all animals sent to fairgrounds have approved intact/undamaged indicator(s).

Tagging

In short, current regulations denote that if an animal loses their tag while on an intermediate site, the operator of the site must apply a new approved indicator to the animal, with the indicator being issued to the intermediate site, and to report and record accordingly.

90% of exhibitors agreed they do NOT want the intermediate site (fairground) tagging their animal with an intermediate site tag. Another 5% reported they were unsure about the concept.

It is not practical nor safe for our facilities to be responsible for animal tagging. We are willing to enforce proper tagging protocols by ensuring all animals who arrive onsite have tags and by restricting participation until animals have been tagged.

Therefore, we propose that the owner/farm of origin is responsible for providing and applying approved indicators, issued to the farm of origin (not the fairgrounds/ intermediate site), to be applied to animals should a tag be lost or removed while on the intermediate site (fairgrounds) and will foster compliance with our own rules and regulations.

The industry urges the CFIA and the federal government to consider the unique challenges faced by fairs, exhibitions, and agricultural societies in implementing the proposed regulatory amendments. We are asking anyone who is affiliated with livestock at animal shows to follow our step-by-step instructions to submit comments to the Canada Gazette before June 16, 2023.

“It’s important to balancing traceability objectives with the sustainability of the industry and the promotion of agriculture to the public,” says Thomson.

Our full position statement, the link to the Canada Gazette portal, as well as our call to action for Canadians is available at www.canadianfairs.ca/livestock-traceability.