Scrapie Canada Update June 2007

Producers and industry representatives nationwide can now contact Scrapie Canada toll-free at 1-866-534-1302.  If you are making a local call (local to Guelph, Ontario), please call 519-766-9761.

Since the border opened for sheep and goat imports in April 2007, Scrapie Canada has seen a major increase in interest in the Voluntary Scrapie Flock Certification Program (SFCP).  This is no surprise seeing as any producer who wishes to bring breeding females into Canada from the US, must be registered on the program.  The same goes for the US counterpart.  Any US producer exporting livestock into Canada must also be enrolled in the US Flock Certification Program.  Until the proposed requirements for the US Flock Certification Program are in place, Canada will only recognize US producers to be at Level E, or entry level.  Therefore, any Canadian producer importing breeding females from the US will revert back to Level E until the US requirements are implemented (tentatively by the end of June 2007).  For the import of males, there will be no scrapie related requirements.

The SFCP has 50 subsidized positions for sheep producers and 10 for goat producers. To date, there are 25 enrolled sheep producers and 10 enrolled goat producers on the program.  Meaning there are 25 subsidized spots left for sheep and 0 for goats.  From this point forward, any goat producers who now wish to enroll on the program will be charged an enrollment fee of $150/year.

For more information on the Voluntary Scrapie Flock Certification Program, call 1-866-534-1302 (or local to Guelph, Ontario 519-766-9761).  You can also find out information on Scrapie Canada’s website at: http://www.scrapiecanada.ca/certification.html.

As a reminder, the National Genotyping Survey is being run until March 31, 2008.  This program offers purebred producers an opportunity to receive financial compensation for any genotype test completed until the end of March 2008.  Canada’s National Genotyping Survey is one of the most extensive sheep genetic programs in the world.  As of June 2007, the survey had completed approximately 5,000 genotype tests on purebred animals across the country.

For more information regarding both scrapie programs being run out of Scrapie Canada, please contact Courtney Denard at 1-866-534-1302 (Local: 519-766-9761) or by e-mail at admin@scrapiecanada.ca.