Exporting Ontario Sheep to Trinidad
by Anna Formusiak (with contributions from Ron and Adele Service)
In 2001, Ron and Adele Service (Black Walnut Lane, Millgrove, ON) were beginning to expand a small flock of Texel-cross sheep to a purebred flock. As the Services were researching the benefits of the Texel breed, so too was one of the largest lamb meat suppliers in Trinidad. Eager to improve his Barbados Blackbelly flock (brown antelope-like sheep with black points and underbelly) the Trinidad producer wanted to crossbreed his animals with the better muscled Danish Texel. This breed was selected in anticipation of adding quality muscle to the Barbados Blackbelly carcass and ultimately producing fuller meat cuts for consumers.
Research of the Service’s website (www.BlackWalnutLane.com) led to a visit at the Service family farm. After viewing the Ontario flock in the summer of 2002, the producer was very interested in purchasing sheep from the Service’s to take back to Trinidad. When initially deciding to raise Texel sheep, the Service’s had never imagined the exporting opportunity that awaited them and immediately added this concept to their business plan. Although there were many obstacles and delays, there was an optimistic determination to make it happen. The next number of months proved to be a time filled with faxes, phone calls, emails and learning about the business of exporting livestock, literally from square one.
The first step was approval by the Trinidad Ministry of Agriculture of the purchaser’s request to import sheep from Canada. Once approved, the import permit detailing the necessary medical requirements to satisfy import/export rules for both countries was given to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) for review. Hamilton, Guelph and Peterborough CFIA staff were involved in processing the import permit, assisting the Service’s in all medical testing procedures, which included reviewing the flock’s health status with regards to Scrapie, Foot and Mouth Disease, Bovine Spongioform Encephalopathy, Tuberculosis, Brucellosis, Leptospirosis, Blue Tongue, Agalactia, Bovine Leukosis, Caprine Arthritis/ Encephalitis, Paratuberculosis and ensuring that all animals were free from internal and external parasites.
Testing had to be carried out within very specific time frames before the departure date therefore obtaining the flight date well in advance was a critical step in the process. While coordinating tests seemed a manageable task, the hurdle of finding a flight still had to be addressed. The aircraft would have to be wide-bodied in order to accommodate the shipping crate and the Trinidad government required the animals be flown directly from Canada to the capital of Trinidad, Port of Spain. Unfortunately, direct, wide-bodied flights to Trinidad did not occur on a regular basis.
For seven months, Ron and Adele were in regular contact with Sea Air International, Mississauga, (an international freight forwarding company) waiting for scheduling of such a flight. With news of a flight, CFIA began testing in early January of two ram lambs and six ewe lambs that successfully departed in February 2003, with the Trinidad Ministry of Agriculture inspectors declaring the Texels “amazing and wonderful sheep ambassadors from Canada.” The Services experienced a great deal of satisfaction and relief knowing that the customer was very happy and proud of his purchase.
When arranging for a second shipment six months later, it was discovered that Air Canada no longer had direct wide bodied flights to Port of Spain. Two more months passed before the new Zoom Airlines announced weekly, wide-bodied flights to Port of Spain would begin in January 2004. Immediately a flight for February was booked and CFIA again began conducting blood tests and processing paperwork. This time the Services accompanied four Texel ram lambs and eleven ewe lambs to their new home in Trinidad. The Services anticipate more export shipments this fall including a shipment of two llamas, and are grateful for the pragmatic approach to livestock imports that the Trinidad government has taken in spite of BSE concerns.
Ron and Adele believe there are additional export opportunities, in Trinidad and elsewhere in the world, for Ontario producers. Looking back, the Service’s are very pleased with the outcome of their sales and found the entire process rewarding. The excellent teamwork skills, punctual sample analysis and overall cooperation of the CFIA were impressive. It was evident that CFIA was very supportive of the entire project and complete cooperation from all parties involved was the key to making this project such a huge success. Other supporters included Steve Jones, President of the Canadian Texel Association, Tom Redpath, Sheep Consultant and Shearer, and Wayne Morgan from Sea Air International.