Thank you very much for having us here this afternoon.
Good afternoon. My name is Tim Klompmaker. I'm a third-generation chicken farmer from Ontario and the chair of Chicken Farmers of Canada.
We are here to ask that the committee work with the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to direct the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Canada Border Services Agency to implement the DNA test that will help stop the fraudulent importation of broiler chicken mislabelled as spent fowl. This border fraud has been impacting Canadian chicken farmers for well over a decade, so thank you for studying this important topic.
Chicken Farmers of Canada represents more than 2,800 farmers, located in every province. We are built on supply management, ensuring stability for farmers, processors and consumers. One pillar of supply management, import controls—meaning the predictability of imports—helps us determine how much chicken must be produced to satisfy the domestic market.
While there is market access provided for broiler meat, based off agreements with trading partners, there are no restrictions on spent fowl imports, and they can enter Canada duty-free. Spent fowl are egg-laying hens that are processed for their meat at the end of their production cycle. Canada imports both broiler and spent-fowl meat; however, one cannot visually distinguish between the two products. As a result, some importers have been purposely mislabelling broiler chicken meat as spent fowl to circumvent Canadian import regulations.
Over the years, we have worked closely with AAFC, CFIA and CBSA to address this fraudulent mislabelling, and they have implemented some measures to try to control the mislabelled imports. From CFIA's suspension of a cold storage establishment in the U.S. to CBSA's inclusion of spent fowl under its priority verification program, over $361 million in duties, interests and penalties on mis-declared spent fowl have been assessed, proof that the problem is real and that better enforcement is required.
I'll take you back. In 2012, we noticed the first warning signs: imports labelled as spent fowl were exceeding what was even possible in U.S. production. Thirteen years later, those numbers persist. For 2025, available data, from January to August, shows that imports of spent fowl have increased by 25% compared to last year. Even more alarming, when converted into a whole-bird equivalent, those imports represent 115% of total U.S. spent fowl slaughter. This shows that Canada's imports of spent fowl exceed the U.S.'s entire production, a clear signal that illegal imports are entering the country, and concrete action is urgently required. These growing numbers and overall concern for fraudulent imports led to a statement from the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Minister of Public Safety in March, directing CFIA and CBSA to develop an action plan to improve detection, enforce compliance and ensure a level playing field.
Back in 2014, we worked with Trent University to develop a scientifically validated forensic DNA test that can distinguish between broiler meat and spent fowl, in order to help government agencies find a solution to identify mislabelled imports and show our commitment to eradicating this problem. Despite these efforts, there has been no further action from the department or agencies on the DNA test since 2018, and it has not yet been implemented as part of Canada's import verification process. CFC has committed to investing in more work with Trent on the update of the tests and hopes that agencies will implement them as part of their tools to enforce Canadian import regulations and ensure food safety for Canadians.
Although these are not guns or drugs, this is illegal activity at our borders. This fraud costs jobs, tax revenue and fair-market competition. More importantly, it risks undermining consumer trust and food safety, because mislabelled products can't be traced if there's a recall on the original product.
Our farmers take these consequences seriously, so seriously that seeking government implementation of the DNA testing by the end of 2026 is a critical priority for our sector. Doing so would not only end this criminal activity but would generate additional economic activity, strengthen food safety and restore fairness for Canadian farmers and processors.
Together we can stop this border fraud once and for all. Thank you.