A recent Canadian Pork Value Chain report indicates the cost of hog vaccines in Canada, where products are accessed through veterinarians, differ markedly from those in the U.S. where products are accessed directly from the manufacturers.

In an effort to document those differences the Canadian Pork Council is asking producers for information on vaccine costs, number of does obtained from a bottle and month of purchase.

CPC technical issues analyst Morgan Radford says the information will be used to compare vaccine costs in Canada with those of the U.S.

Morgan Radford-Canadian Pork Council

It's come to light that there are some vaccines that are significantly more expensive here in Canada than they are in the U.S. and what we wanted to do was establish a ballpark figure or average across Canada for prices that are paid for vaccines when they are purchased in certain dosages and then we're comparing that to vaccine prices that are listed on American web sites.

Currently producers are not allowed to import vaccines from the U.S. but there is a permitting system through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Through that system you are can become a designated importer and once you're a designated importer you can purchase directly from the manufacturer in the U.S. but the manufacturer in the U.S. has not been interested up to until now in supplying individual farmers.

They don't want to interfere or be seen to interfere with the current distribution system for vaccines in Canada.

Radford suggests vaccines, which are regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and pharmaceutical products which are regulated by Health Canada's Veterinary Drugs Directorate need to be examined separately.

She notes a comparison of pharmaceutical costs doesn't show much of differential in the hog industry.