Crying Foul Over Spent Fowl Imports

Most people don’t know the difference between a broiler chicken and spent fowl. But the readership of Canadian Poultry magazine is likely well aware of what spent fowl is, and understands the significant differences between the two birds. Spent fowl are laying hens that have reached the end of their production cycle: a byproduct of egg and broiler hatching egg production. Fowl meat is much tougher than broiler chicken meat, partially because of genetics, and partially because of the age of the hens at the time of slaughter. While broiler chickens have been bred for meat consumption, spent fowl hens have been bred for their egg laying capacity and these birds are slaughtered at around 60 weeks old, whereas broiler chickens are slaughtered at around six weeks of age. Broiler chickens have never laid an egg in their lifetimes, but spent fowl carry within their meat traces of egg residue, which poses a risk to consumers who suffer from egg allergies.

Another significant difference between spent fowl and broiler meat is that while broiler chicken is subject to import controls, spent fowl is not; unlimited amounts of it can be imported into Canada. While imports of spent fowl had been stable for many years, since 2012 there has been a massive surge of imports, increasing from 47 million kg (eviscerated weight) in 2005 to 103 million kg (eviscerated weight) in 2016, more than doubling in
10 years.

Evidence suggests that this increase is at least in part due to the smuggling of broiler meat, which is being fraudulently declared as spent fowl at the border in order to bypass import controls. Once in the country, the smuggled broiler meat loses its “spent fowl” label and is sold to unsuspecting Canadian further processors, food service and retailers – and ultimately the Canadian public – as domestically-produced chicken. Consider for instance that based on production and trade statistics, in 2012 Canadian imports represented the equivalent of 101 per cent of the United States’ entire spent fowl production. Obviously, this is impossible. Though there was a slight decline during the following two years, spent fowl imports have again returned to suspiciously high levels and imports in the first quarter of 2016 are the highest ever with 29 million kg in just three months. In 2015, Canada appears to have imported the equivalent of 95.6 per cent of the United States’ entire spent fowl production despite the fact the United States exports spent fowl to countries other than Canada and there is also a substantial American domestic demand for spent fowl meat. Clearly something is amiss.

Fraud such as this robs Canada’s chicken farmers and processors of jobs and revenue that could – and should – benefit the Canadian economy. Not only has the tariff evasion directly deprived the public coffers of at least $66 million, the impact of these excessive imports have further deprived the Canadian economy of 8,900 jobs and $600 million in contributions to
the GDP.

Since evidence of this smuggling was uncovered, Canadian poultry producers and processors have been working with the federal government to find ways to stop it. On Oct. 5, 2015, the Canadian government included a pledge to implement a mandatory certification requirement on spent fowl imports. A governmental inter-department working group involving the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canada Border Services Agency, Global Affairs Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has been formed to move this pledge forward. This is an important first step, and the poultry sector eagerly awaits the working group’s action plan for instituting this mandatory import certification.

One reason the smuggling has been able to go undetected for so long is due to how difficult it is to distinguish between spent fowl meat and broiler meat, particularly when it comes to inspecting shipments of boneless cuts. Chicken Farmers of Canada has worked with researchers at Trent University to find a way to address this challenge. The result is the successful development of a forensic DNA test that can verify whether a given product contains chicken, spent fowl or a combination of both. In this way, the chicken portion of even blended products, such as nuggets that may contain both broiler meat and spent fowl meat, can be subject to the appropriate import control. This test is quick and easy to administer, and provides a level of meat traceability that meets the forensic standards required for potential legal action. It is vital that this DNA test becomes part of the verification process to ensure the validity of spent fowl import certifications and put an end to the illegal smuggling of broiler meat once and for all.