Saskatchewan pork producers support the creation of the Canadian Pork Promotion and Research Agency.

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced creation of the agency Thursday.

She says it will be funded by levies on producer sales and pork imports and expand pork promotion and research.

The manager of SaskPork, Mark Ferguson, says creation of the agency has been planned for several months.

Ferguson says the purpose of the agency is to enable producers to increase the amount of money to issues important to their farms.

Some of the research will focus on managing the risk of African Swine fever with boosting on-farm biosecurity and surveillance.

Last year the Canadian pork industry exported $4-billion worth of pork to over 90 countries.