Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, members of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
As the representative of the Fédération des producteurs d'œufs du Québec, I'll deliver my remarks in French, but I can answer your questions in English or French.
The federation represents about 200 egg producers and about 100 pullet growers whose farms are spread out across Quebec. The Quebec flock totals nearly six million laying hens that produce just under two billion eggs to meet the demand of consumers in Quebec.
The reason producers have been able to meet consumer demand is that they have kept their birds healthy over the years and have always made quality and biosecurity top priorities. They've developed strict, precise rules for egg production and storage. Over the past few years, they've also implemented programs to manage certain pathogens, such as salmonella, which can cause food poisoning. This was all done successfully in collaboration with Quebec's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
We know various diseases can affect poultry, and some are worse than others. Each disease requires its own control or eradication strategy. To prevent and manage the diseases that present the greatest threat to the sector's economic health, the federation works with leading industry partners in Quebec, such as other producer associations, millers, slaughterhouses and hatcheries.
In 2004, all these partners created the Équipe québécoise de contrôle des maladies avicoles, or EQCMA, which has been working with governments for years to develop and improve an avian influenza emergency response plan. The industry has also collaborated on plans to respond to other infectious diseases affecting commercial poultry, such as infectious laryngotracheitis and Mycoplasma gallisepticum. The EQCMA adopted strategies for those two diseases in 2010.
The EQCMA's primary mandate is to prevent disease, so we've developed biosecurity protocols that serve as a foundation for the work Quebec's poultry sector stakeholders and producers are doing together. We are currently revising those protocols to develop teaching tools that will help improve biosecurity on farms and in the operations of other stakeholders.
Since 2022, we, like the global poultry sector, have been facing a new threat: a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza initially spread by wild birds. To date, Canada has recorded 330 cases of this type of influenza resulting in the loss of nearly eight million birds. Quebec has seen 47 cases over the past two years, 20 of which affected flocks under quota production. Members of the federation have had only two cases of avian influenza.
We know the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has lead responsibility and legal authority to intervene to eradicate this disease, which has cost Canadian taxpayers over $200 million to date. However, industry partners have a vital role to play in intervening to eradicate this disease. In Quebec, the EQCMA coordinates this shared responsibility. CFIA resources have been pushed to their limit over the past two years, so the industry itself has taken on more responsibility for intervention in recent months.
The federation and its EQCMA partners have therefore set to work to find solutions to a number of problems, including depopulation of infected flocks, disposal of dead birds and identifying specialized external suppliers. Given the scale of the challenges, particularly rapid depopulation of infected flocks, the EQCMA is investigating new technologies for rapid, humane depopulation. Some of those technologies require significant investment. We appreciate the contribution that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada confirmed last week for work on one new technology.
However, we would like to see the establishment of a specific fund like the one for African swine fever preparedness to equip the poultry sector in Quebec and the rest of the country with better tools to deal with future outbreaks of avian influenza, which will likely remain a threat for many years to come.
Thank you for inviting me to appear before the committee. I'm available to answer your questions.