Good evening. As mentioned, my name is John de Bruyn, chair of Ontario Pork, and I'll be sharing my time with Tara Terpstra, the vice-chair.
We're pleased to present to this committee the ongoing activities and investments to improve biosecurity preparedness and prevent the threat of foreign animal diseases—in particular, African swine fever—to the Canadian swine industry, as well as many other hazards to animal and human health.
Biosecurity is critical to reduce the spread of swine diseases across the industry. There are many diseases that, if they enter a barn, will have devastating impacts on the farm and the industry. As part of our presentation, we would like to share our perspective from the Ontario pork sector.
The Ontario pork sector represents a significant share of Canada's agriculture and food sector. We're currently just under a thousand producers in Ontario who market just shy of six million hogs. Ontario's pork producers are among the world's leaders in animal care, food safety, quality and traceability.
For an industry that exports roughly two-thirds of our domestic production, international market access is the cornerstone of economic success. Any foreign animal disease entering Canada would have a severe and negative impact on the pork sector, as well as on our economy. An ASF outbreak in Canada would result in an immediate border closure to both live animals and pork products. We welcome government support to help us prevent and prepare for foreign animal disease outbreaks.
Many swine diseases, if they enter a barn, will have devastating impacts on the farm and the industry. Depending on the disease, the stage of production and the size of the barn, an outbreak could have a significant impact on my farm. A great deal of effort and investment was put into biosecurity on farms and continues to be invested over the years here.
Due to diverse protection systems and marketing arrangements, there's significant animal movement between different locations within the swine sector, which makes us a bit unique as an industry across Canada. Some critical control points within supply chains still require further attention and investment to bridge the gaps. These critical control points, from Ontario's perspective, are assembly yards and livestock trucks, as well as processing plants, which are currently considered by producers as having an increased risk of exposing animals and vehicles to disease-causing agents.
Since these areas are considered central hubs of animal movement, they require a more sizable investment in biosecurity measures to be effective.