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Your Future is Our Focus
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) is committed
to every producer in this country. As your national voice,
CCA values its provincial representatives and is working to
ensure a number of initiatives are undertaken for your
benefit. By working with the Canadian and US governments
and industry allies and by engaging specialized
legal counsel, we continue to work to ensure we remain
competitive, move forward and protect our industry from
opposing groups such as R-CALF.
Through funds contributed from producers and government,
CCA is working to provide the industry with the
knowledge it needs to be responsive and retain its
competitive edge. Several research studies undertaken in
2006, including a study assessing the effects of consumer
perception on beef safety and how it impacts demand, and
assessing the feasibility and implications of extending
traceability in the beef cattle industry, are available at
www.canfax.ca/beef_supply by clicking on
“projects funded”.
Market Normalization
The announcement in December that the United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA) had re-submitted
Rule #2 to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) was welcomed by CCA. This was an important
step for our industry that CCA has been working
towards for quite some time.
Since July, when Rule #2 was originally submitted to
the OMB and then voluntarily withdrawn following the
discovery of BSE in a fifty-month old Alberta animal,
CCA has been meeting with US officials to promote the
safety of Canadian beef and cattle and the safeguards
we have in place to ensure this safety.
The implementation of Rule #2 will open the US border
to Canadian beef and cattle over 30 months of age (OTM
cattle) and breeding stock. It should also eliminate
unnecessary
requirements such as pregnancy-checking and ageverifying
slaughter cattle. The next step was to publish the
rule for public comment and this occured early in 2007.
After the public comment period is
completed, the USDA
will then review the comments, write responses to them
and potentially amend the rule. There is no specified
timeframe for that process. At that point the rule must be
returned to the OMB with the USDA’s report on the results
of the public consultation. After the OMB approves the
final rule, the USDA would register it for implementation.
If the rule proceeds without any further complications
(legal or political issues), it is possible it could be
implemented in the second quarter of 2007.
On another note, R-CALF is still working to close the US
border to cattle and beef under 30 months of age (UTM
cattle) and will be allowed to make its arguments regarding
“Rule #1” to the Ninth Circuit Court. R-CALF’s briefs were
due at the Ninth Circuit in late December and the USDA’s
reply brief and R-CALF’s rebuttal should be submitted in
late January 2007. After all these briefs are submitted,
the Ninth Circuit may set a date for oral arguments or it
may rule on the basis of the written briefs. There is no
time limit for them to issue a decision.
This has been a long and drawn-out process with numerous
rulings and appeals. While it seems unlikely that R-CALF
will be successful in its attempt to close the border, we
need to be mindful of the opposition we face and that we
can probably expect similar opposition with Rule #2. CCA
continues to work with its legal counsel and the USDA to
ensure R-CALF does not have any additional leverage it
can use against us.
We have had great success in regaining access to markets
that closed after the discovery of BSE in our country.
However, there are still key markets that have not re-opened
to Canadian beef and cattle or have not regained full
access according to the World Organization for Animal
Health (OIE) standards. CCA continues to push the
Canadian Government to take a leadership role and a
pro-trade stand. We are encouraging the Canadian
government to ensure that further market openings are
in conformity with the OIE standards and provide access
for all live cattle and beef from cattle of all ages.
Most of Canada’s significant export markets have either
already reinstated market access or are in advanced stages
of their domestic processes to restore normal access. The
Republic of Korea, however, remains a notable exception
to this progress. In 2002, Korea was Canada’s fourthlargest
export market for beef, purchasing some $50 million
of product. Instead of making a concerted effort to
restore access for Canadian beef, Korea continues to offer
excuses which have more to do with trade protectionism
than scientific fact. CCA is requesting that the Canadian
Government suspend free trade negotiations until full access
for Canadian cattle and beef products in accordance with
the OIE standards is restored with South Korea. In addition,
we are formally requesting the Canadian government initiate
World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement
proceedings against the Republic of Korea.
Supplemental Import Permits
CCA is pleased to see that the House of
Commons Standing Committee on
Agriculture unanimously agreed in December
to constrain the use of supplemental
imports of beef or veal – i.e) imports over
and above Canada’s duty-free quota of
76,409 tonnes. In previous years, the
unconstrained use of supplemental imports
from low-cost countries forced many
Canadian cattle producers to seek higher
prices by sending their older cattle to be
processed in the United States.
Under the policy adopted by the House
Agriculture Committee, beef importers must
demonstrate their efforts to purchase
Canadian beef and veal before seeking a
permit to import “supplemental” quantities
from countries such as Australia, New
Zealand or South America. The policy would also require
the Minister to make a report to the House of Commons if
he intends to issue supplemental import permits totaling
more than 1500 tonnes in any given year and explain the
reasons for the increase.
Canada did not have the slaughter capacity to process all
the cattle that needed to go to market when the border
closed in 2003. That situation has changed dramatically
in the past three and a half years. Canada can now
process approximately 105,000 head of cattle every week
compared to 72,000 in 2003. For older cattle, Canada can
now process as many as 18,000 head per week compared
to about 8,000 in 2003. With this new capacity, there
should be ample supply of Canadian beef for the needs of
the commercial beef processing industry.
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)
Through the extensive surveillance program currently in
place in Canada, five cases of BSE were identified in 2006.
While we expected this, each case found after the
implementation
of the feed ban has posed certain challenges to
fully normalizing trade. It is important to recognize that
almost every country with BSE has found a small number
of Born After Ruminant Ban (BARB) cases.
The investigation into the fifty-month old animal found
good overall compliance with the feed ban, with the likely
cause of infection identified as an incident in a commercial
feed facility where flushing did not occur between a
load of cattle feed and non-ruminant feed. This may have
resulted in the contamination of a single batch of cattle
feed with prohibited material. Fortunately, the entire
batch of feed was shipped to the BSE-positive animal’s
farm, and this indicates that it was very likely an isolated
incident. Our feed policy was thoroughly examined in
2005 by both the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA),
and it was found that compliance increased steadily,
reaching a very high level of compliance in 2002/2003.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency
(CFIA) announced that an enhanced feed
ban will be implemented, effective July
12, 2007. The enhanced feed ban will
eliminate all potentially infected cattle
tissue (specified risk material) from all
animal feed, pet food and fertilizers.
This will prevent more than 99 per cent
of potential infectivity from entering the
animal feed chain, essentially eliminating
the risk of downstream contamination
and decreasing the time to effectively
eliminate BSE from the Canadian herd.
This should increase confidence among
our export markets and help to ensure
Canada continues to be a key player in
the global beef market.
Traceability
The value of the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency
(CCIA) has been proven many times over the past few
years. This system is highly regarded by our trading
partners, particularly for its value in an animal health
emergency. The cattle industry is developing a strategy
to move toward full animal movement and tracking.
However, we recognize that any system put in place must
not result in the industry becoming non-competitive. In
addition, CCA has committed to the principles that any
national system for beef cattle shall not impede or delay
commerce and that the technology must be capable of
reading identification at a rate which accommodates
normal commerce. We must also be sure that the
tolerance ranges for readability are acceptable to industry
standards. Finally, we remain committed to maintaining
producer confidentiality.
New Agricultural Policy Framework
Every five years, the Canadian government prepares an
agri-food policy that guides its programs and direction.
The current policy agreements expire in March 2008.
CCA and the provincial organizations will be
participating in the development of the next agri-food
policy. This policy will define what is needed to support
growth in the agri-food industry and includes business
risk management programs, environmental programs,
research and development, and trade policy. We will
continue to work to ensure that the needs of Canadian
beef cattle producers are met in this process. |
