Whereas for the benefit of producers and consumers and in the promotion of a prosperous agricultural industry, it is vital for farmers in British Columbia to be able to operate their farms to establish a living income and for citizens of British Columbia to have the ability to purchase heritage meats through farm gate sales; And whereas current licensing regulations require that rural farmers living within 2 hours of an abattoir must take their livestock to a facility for slaughter, where the existing abattoirs do not have capacity to meet the service demands: Therefore be it resolved that the Minister of Agriculture be requested to make an immediate change to the Class E licensing requirements to give farmers the ability to slaughter their livestock on farm premises and to offer and promote farm gate sales.
Ministry of Agriculture Government appreciates the concerns, comments and feedback about the challenges facing small agriculture producers. The Ministry of Agriculture launched a consultation in March 2018 to gather information about Class D and E licences and the licensing process. The Select Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fish and Food SSCAFF established on April 24, 2018 launched a province-wide public consultation on meat production, including consideration of Class E licences. In late September 2018, SSCAFF released their report which had 21 recommendations for government, including review of the current policy for Class E licences. Since the report came out, Ministry staff have been working to address many of the recommendations and to ensure appropriate consideration of the work by the Committee, including the review of Class D and E licensing.