African Swine Fever

Classification: Unclassified

Branch/Agency: CBSA

Proposed Response:

• The Government of Canada is taking the threat to the Canadian pork industry posed by the outbreak of African swine fever in Europe and Asia very seriously. 
• The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is working closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to ensure goods that pose a threat of spreading ASF to Canada are interdicted at the border.  
• The CBSA has taken steps to ensure all border services officers have been made aware of the impact of African swine fever and what steps they should take if undeclared food, plant and animal products, including pork and porcine products, are found.
• The CBSA has strategically deployed its resources to focus on flights arriving from central Asia, including China for the first time in 2018, as well as several European countries.
• Budget 2019 announced funding of up to $31M, distributed over the next five years, for the CBSA to acquire, train and deploy 24 new food, plant and animal detector dog teams.
• The CBSA currently has 21 detector dog teams dedicated to the detection of prohibited food, plant and animal products, including six new teams that were deployed on October 11, 2019, as a result of this initiative.
• The remaining 18 detector dog teams are to be trained and deployed over the next two years.
• Detector dogs are the CBSA’s best tool for detecting undeclared food, plant and animal products.
• The CBSA has conducted outreach to airport authorities and has placed posters at ports of entry to raise public awareness of the African swine fever threat and the importance of declaring food, plant and animal products. The posters and graphics are displayed in multiple languages.
• The CBSA’s border services officers have been provided with guidance on the application of monetary penalties of up to $1,300 to travellers who fail to declare pork, pork products, or any other meat.
• The CBSA seizes inadmissible pork products on a daily basis from travellers, regardless of whether it is infected with ASF. In 2019, 762 travellers were issued monetary penalties for failing to declare or illegally importing pork products.

Background:

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious viral disease affecting pigs that is spreading rapidly in Asia and Europe. ASF is routinely found in parts of Africa and, since 2007, has spread across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including into China for the first time in 2018. If introduced to Canada, the disease would have severe consequences on Canada’s $20-30 billion pork industry.

ASF is highly contagious and severe strains of ASF kill almost 100 percent of infected pigs, and there are no known preventative treatments or cures for the disease. There is no evidence that the ASF virus can infect humans, and it is not considered a food safety risk. The disease is unlikely to be eradicated or contained in Asia in the foreseeable future and the threat is likely to be ongoing. The full list of targeted countries is as follows: Belgium, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy (Sardinia only), Laos, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Myanmar, North Korea, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Korea, Timor-Leste, Ukraine, Vietnam, and all African countries.

Pork industry stakeholders have raised concerns with the Government about the devastating economic impacts that this disease would have on our pork industry. They request that the Government of Canada take various steps to prevent ASF from entering the country, including the implementation of more aggressive border controls on any products from ASF affected countries with the disease. Stakeholders have raised a specific concern about a food, plant and animal (FPA) detector dog shortage which has been publicized in the media.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is the Government of Canada’s lead in responding to ASF. CFIA has implemented strict regulatory import controls to prevent the entry of animals and their products and by-products into Canada from countries where the disease is known to occur. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is responsible for administering and enforcing CFIA regulations as they apply at the border and include screening travellers for inadmissible FPA products, and ensuring commercial shipments are released, refused, or referred for CFIA inspection in accordance with CFIA release recommendations.

CBSA border services officers can issue monetary penalties ranging from $800 - $1300 to travellers who fail to declare or illegally import FPA and related products into Canada. Given the very serious violation with respect to the smuggling of pork, a penalty of $1300 under subsection 16(1) of the Health of Animals Act has been deemed as most appropriate. The penalty is reduced by 50% if the traveller pays the penalty within 15 days.

The CFIA decided against testing seized items for the presence of ASF. However, the CBSA seizes inadmissible pork products on a daily basis from travellers. In 2019, 762 travellers were issued monetary penalties for failing to declare or illegally importing pork products.

All people, goods and conveyances entering Canada must report to the CBSA and may be subject to an examination. CBSA officers are trained in examination, investigative and questioning techniques. They use a risk management approach to determine if an examination is required. They look for indicators of non-compliance and focus their efforts on higher and/or unknown risks. The CBSA uses a variety of detection tools to locate regulated or prohibited goods, such as imaging devices, detector dogs, and many others. Border services officers may use a multiplicity of techniques, methods and detection tools at their disposal.

CBSA works closely with domestic and international partners in a joint effort to keep respective borders safe and secure.‎ The Agency shares key intelligence, with partners while respecting the strict Canadian legal parameters.

Contacts:

Prepared by: Everett Harper, A/Manager, OGD Programs Unit, 613-952-1859

Approved by: Peter Hill, Vice-President, Commercial and Trade Branch, 613-952-2531

Date modified:

2020-09-10