Manitoba pork industry concerned by U.S. threat of country-of-origin labelling
Posted September 10, 2026 4:20 pm.
Manitoba’s pork industry is raising concerns about possible changes south of the border, as the United States considers bringing back mandatory country-of-origin labelling for beef.
There are fears pork could once again be pulled into those changes.
“The focus is on beef, but I think we would be naive to not think that other commodities and other red meat products are going to follow,” said Cam Dahl, the general manager of Manitoba Pork.
U.S. President Donald Trump directed American officials to examine mandatory labelling for beef, with a similar push also gaining support in a Senate committee.
While pork isn’t currently part of that proposed change, Dahl says producers in Canada have reason to watch closely, because the last time mandatory U.S. labelling was introduced, both beef and pork were included.
Dahl warns mandatory labelling could force Canadian animals to be separated through that supply chain, adding costs and making them less attractive to U.S. buyers.
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It’s a battle the industry remembers well, after Canada and Mexico successfully challenged the previous U.S. rules before the beef and pork requirements were repealed in 2015.
“I know Manitoba Pork spent over $1 million fighting that case,” Dahl said. “It was expensive, but it was an important victory because of the cost that was imposing on our sector.”
Manitoba has a lot riding on what happens next. The province’s pork industry is deeply connected to the U.S. market, with about three million young Manitoba pigs crossing the border every year to be raised and processed.
“There isn’t an alternative market for those animals,” explained Dahl. “So, the diversification would mean that we would need to finish and process more of those pigs here in Manitoba. And that would require significant investment both from farmers as well as on processors.”
For now, mandatory country-of-origin labelling for pork remains a possibility, not a policy. But with millions of Manitoba pigs moving south every year, the industry says it wants the issue addressed before another cross-border trade fight begins.
