Earlier this week the federal government announced phase two of a national initiative designed help swine producers reduce the risk of disease.

Phase one of the program, announced in the fall of 2007 and made retroactive to April 2006, focused on circovirus and provided partial re-imbursement for diagnostic services and vaccine purchases and that phase sunsetted 31 December 2008.

Canadian Swine Health Board acting executive director Morgan Radford says phase two of the program accommodates the creation of the Swine Health Board which will focus on biosecurity research and long term disease risk management strategies.

Morgan Radford-Canadian Swine Health Board

This program was announced as a response to the circovirus crisis so first and foremost we will be looking at the elements as they pertain to circovirus associated diseases.

We had some severe financial losses in 2004 and 2005 in Quebec and Ontario due to circovirus.

At the time there weren't any tools for producers.

Since then we've had access to very effective vaccines and the circovirus crisis has essentially been taken care of

Now it can be expanded as well to look at other emerging diseases so phase two is actually the creation of the Canadian Swine Health Board and, as such, the program details there will be around biosecurity research and the long term disease risk management.

Ms Radford notes our international trading partners recognize that Canada produces very high quality pork and that pork that needs to come from healthy animals.

She says Canadian producers have been able to demonstrate that in the past and phase two of this initiative will be a way to ensure that we'll be able to continue to do so.