|
An Open Letter to Canadian Beef Cattle Producers
From CCA President Stan Eby
It is one year ago today that Canada's
first case of BSE in a native-born
animal was announced. While the media is acknowledging the event with
retrospectives and increased news coverage, cattle producers realize that
this is simply one more day on our long march toward industry, and
individual, recovery.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is continuing to assess
the over 3,000 comments it received on the proposed rule for importing
live
cattle and other beef products from Canada and other regions at minimal
risk
for BSE. Our contacts in the USDA inform us that they have assigned extra
staff to the task, and we look forward to a decision in the very near
future.
Indications from the highest levels are that the U.S. Government wants
this
issue resolved as soon as possible. Indeed, following his meeting with
Prime
Minister Paul Martin on April 30, President George Bush stated
emphatically
that the border would re-open to live cattle as soon as possible. He also
reconfirmed that the U.S. decision would be based on science, not
politics.
The science is clear that Canadian beef and cattle are safe.
For the past year the Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA) has lobbied
hard on a number of fronts. There continues to be no let-up in our
efforts.
We have worked hard to ensure the support of cattle industry associations
in
other countries. We were successful in getting organizations representing
cattle producers throughout North America to pressure our respective
governments to re-open borders based on sound science. We've gained the
support of producer representatives in the 5 Nations Beef Conference
(Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, the U.S. and Canada) in lobbying the OIE
to
change international guidelines for how countries react to BSE in
countries
that have taken all the proper precautions for animal health and food
safety. The goal of this effort is to bring about more rational reactions
from international trading partners. That position will be debated by the
OIE in the next few days.
The CCA also worked very hard in lobbying the Federal and Provincial
Governments, at first to ensure they understood the depth of the impact of
this crisis in rural communities, and then for financial support for the
industry. While we didn't always get all that we asked for, the
Federal-Provincial BSE Recovery Program announced June 2003, the
Federal-Provincial Cull Animal Program announced November 2003, and the
Federal Transitional Industry Support Program announced March 2004 helped
keep cattle markets functional. This allowed producers to continue to sell
cattle. Even though the prices have not been what we would like to see,
having a market has kept our industry operational.
And of course lobbying of our international trading partners continues
unabated. I returned from our most recent lobbying trip to Washington one
week ago. During our meetings we received positive indications that the
USDA, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, the American Meat
Institute
and the U.S. Administration wants to see this issue resolved. Work on
re-opening other markets, in particular Asia, is also continuing. Much of
CCA's representation has been through our membership in the Canada Beef
Export Federation.
While this has been the most difficult year in memory for most Canadian
beef
cattle producers, we should not forget the successes we've had along the
way. Last summer we regained access for exports of boneless Canadian beef
from cattle under 30 months of age into the U.S. and Mexico, our two
largest
export markets. This is the first time that these countries had re-opened
their borders to beef products from a country that had experienced a
domestic case of BSE. Our exports to these markets have recovered well.
This
recovery has been gratifying, and has helped keep our industry afloat. Our
exports of boxed beef from June 2003 to May 2004 to all countries are down
$900 million from the same time frame a year earlier (down from $2.2
billion
to $1.3 billion).
We must also recognize the remarkable support of Canadians for our
industry.
Canadians rallied behind us last summer, and their support continues to
this
day. Beef disappearance soared during the first weeks of the crisis, and
has
settled into a respectable 4.9% increase in 2003 compared to 2002.
(Disappearance is calculated by adding together beef production, beef
imports, beef stocks in storage, and subtracting from this total, beef
exports. The product may be held in freezers of consumers to be consumed
at
a later date or in storage coolers and freezers of packers and processors
ready for export or further processing.) Canadian beef producers owe
Canadians a debt of gratitude for their encouragement.
We can also thank the media for their efforts in portraying our situation
accurately. The science of BSE is not easy to understand, and the cattle
industry is also not easy to understand for those who aren't involved in
it
on a day-to-day basis. The media, for the most part, did their best and
didn
't try to overly sensationalize the story.
The CCA has said from the beginning that our industry won't fully recover
until the U.S. border reopens to live cattle. We continue to work hard
toward that end. We are also working to come out of this situation with a
better, more sustainable industry through better harmonized animal health
regulations, a more robust processing sector, improved communications,
greater awareness of on-farm food safety and other enhancements.
Our industry has shown greater resilience than many would have thought
possible a year ago. By all sectors continuing to work together, we will
make it through.
Stan Eby,
President |
