QUEBEC CITY, Quebec – The Balanced Production Management regulation (Gestion équilibrée de la production, or GEP) has been officially approved following months of study by Quebec's Agriculture and Food Marketing Board (RMAAQ), which is giving the pork production sector its first management tool.

For almost three years FPPQ said it has worked to make this regulation a unifying plan for all sector stakeholders. The GEP will provide greater efficiency in the sector through better coordination between farm production and slaughterhouse operations by helping to avoid situations where surpluses would effectively lower the average market price.


"This is excellent news for pork producers and Quebec pork production," said Jean-Guy Vincent, president of the Fédération des producteurs de porcs du Québec (FPPQ). "With GEP, we have accomplished a major phase of our work plan and we're indicating to the government that pork producers are collectively taking care of themselves."

Thanks to the new marketing agreement and GEP regulation, pork producers now have a management tool and can respond to government and public concerns about pork production. "In the opinion of the board, the regulation is of a nature likely to contribute positively to the development of the pork sector and toward the effective, orderly marketing of hogs," the ruling reads in part (RMAAQ, decision 9628, 62).