Farm-Scape is sponsored by Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork Play Audio Farm-Scape is a Wonderworks Canada production and is distributed courtesy of Manitoba Pork Council and Sask Pork.

Farm-Scape, Episode 1515

The US Commerce Department has started collecting information from Canadian producers that will help answer US allegations that subsidized Canadian hogs are being dumped into the US. Complaints filed by American swine producers call on the US Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission to impose countervail and antidumping duties on imported live butcher hogs and weanling pigs from Canada.

Canadian Pork Council Executive Director Martin Rice says questionnaires, on the countervail side have gone to individual producers as well as to government departments named in the petitions.

"The questionnaires are going to some individuals in the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario that are either the exporters themselves or, in other cases, producers who ship hogs through exporters. Those people have been identified.

They are being followed up with by law firms and also by associations in those provinces to assist in the initial preparations for completing those questionnaires.

It is very important for their interests and for the national interests that the individuals that are being investigated are cooperating fully and that they have the appropriate expertise with them to help them complete these questionnaires in a way that will make it as accurate and as truthful, representative as possible so the information isn't used, misused or misrepresented to have a higher duty than we otherwise would have. In fact, we're hoping for a zero duty in both cases."

Rice says industry is making available legal expertise to assist producers identified as respondents in both investigations.

He says preliminary advice has already been given to those identified on the countervail side but those who will be questioned on the antidumping side have not yet been identified.

For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.