An interprovincial trade flap has New Brunswick's only poultry processing plant crying foul.

Nadeau Poultry Farm Ltd. of St-Francois-de-Madawaska has been notified that its major supplier, Group Westco, will be taking its business to Quebec as of July.

The loss of the supplier would see about 200 job losses at the plant that employees 340 people and processes 31 million chickens a year, said Yves Landry, Nadeau general manager.

Westco produces about half of the 31 million chickens and wants to sell the birds to Quebec instead. The company allegedly tried to acquire the Nadeau slaughterhouse from its owner, Maple Lodge Farms, unsuccessfully in 2007, according to Radio-Canada.

The announced move is now a serious threat to the poultry industry in New Brunswick, Landry said.

"The province owns the quota. We feel the province should be able to directly say the birds are not going to leave the province," Landry said.

Agriculture Minister Ronald Ouellette said the government has been following the issue since the fall and suggested Westco may be trying to force Maple Lodge to sell its New Brunswick operation.

The government is looking at options to protect jobs and the industry, Ouellette said, but it will not take sides in business negotiations.

He added trade rules are more complicated than just ordering the birds not cross the border and pointed out that Nadeau brings chickens in from other provinces, too.

"We took some chickens from Nova Scotia and we're transforming them here in New Brunswick. If we can do it one way, Quebec can also have some," Ouellette said.

Landry said the situation with Nadeau is different because it has been taking chickens from Nova Scotia because the province lost a processor.

"We're helping those growers because the plant shut down," Landry said. "It's only a two-year deal that was done for them to see what's going to take place for the industry in Nova Scotia. It's not the same thinking at all as taking the birds from the province and moving into Quebec."

Group Westco has declined to comment.