On-Farm Programs

Canadian Pork Excellence is a national platform created for Canadian pork producers to demonstrate their commitment to produce high quality pork by maintaining the highest standard in food safety, animal welfare and traceability practices

Canadian Pork Excellence is comprised of three major on-farm programs: PigTRACE, PigSAFE (CQA) and PigCARE (ACA)

• Provides assurance that on-farm food safety-related issues are addressed
• On-farm programs related to animal care demonstrate producers’ commitment to the health and well-being of their animals
• On-farm programs increase public trust and industry sustainability
• Provides data to producers to help manage on-farm activities
• Provides the foundation for the implementation of Canadian Ractopamine-Free Certification Program, which enables producers to export to China

PigSAFE is the name for the food safety program.

It is a program based on the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) model, including good production practices and critical control points to implement on-farm to prevent potential hazards that could affect the safety of the final product, pork.

Producers must demonstrate through detailed procedures and record keeping that programs requirements are met.

In 1998, federal and provincial governments, exporters and retailers all wanted to implement different on-farm food safety programs that were intended to address domestic and international consumers’ food safety concerns.

The first on-farm food safety program, the Canadian Quality Assurance (CQA) was developed in response to consumers’ interest in having assurances about the way pork is produced.

The program provides a mechanism for Canadian pork producers to demonstrate their commitment to the implementation of sound production practices that promote safe food production.

PigCARE is the name of the animal care program.

The PigCARE Program reflects the 2014 Code of Practice for the care and handling of pigs.

Producers must demonstrate through detailed procedures and record keeping that the Code of Practice requirements are met.

The codes of practice are credible and broadly recognized by governments and industry stakeholders as being reflective of common industry standards.

It is our engagement as an industry to reflect the animal care practices outlined in the code of practice.

By adhering to the code of practice, public trust and consumer confidence are elevated.

PigTRACE is a traceability program developed to enable Canada to better manage potential disease outbreaks. It also enables the traceability of pork producers, which is an added value to some customers.

It is an important component of Canada’s public trust communications and provides a point of differentiation from other suppliers such as the U.S.

• Provide confidence to domestic and international customers through a validated “Farm to Fork” assurance of food safety in conjunction with the federal government’s meat inspection program.
• Helped the Canadian pork industry secure existing customers and develop new ones – especially in $1 billion Japanese market where food safety assurance is critical.
• Provided a base to develop other national on-farm initiatives such as the ractopamine-free program which opened the $600 million Chinese pork market for Canadian pork.

• Based on the results of a 2010 survey of producers, program validators and processors the following recommendations were made and focused on improving the programs in four specific areas:
• • Tools to help producers
  • Validation process
  • Program material
  • Management and administration of the program
• To keep up with changing technologies, standards and customer demands as they relate to food safety.
• To ensure the updated Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs was accurately incorporated.
• To streamline programs delivery.
• Competing countries, such as the U.S., were updating their on-farm programs.