July 24th, 2003
Dear
Editor:
The identification of a single,
isolated case of BSE in Alberta, and the resulting closure of markets to
Canadian beef, has had a profound and devastating impact on the beef industry, but
also to the agricultural sector and the Canadian economy. The beef industry is one of the engines of
the Canadian economy, and many families rely upon it for their livelihood. The Government of Canada is committed to
doing everything in its power to return this industry to a state of normalcy
however, it will require the cooperation of other nations to make this happen.
Recently, the Government of Canada
has made two separate announcements pertaining to the beef industry. Early in the afternoon of July 18th,
it was announced that all applications received by the government after July 9th,
2003 for importing non-NAFTA beef and veal over and above the amounts
previously agreed to under the World Trade Organization rules will be
refused. The refusal of these
‘supplemental imports’ is being undertaken to increase the opportunities for
Canadian beef and veal suppliers. At
the same time, it was announced that a government-industry committee is being
charged with examining certain aspects of the current policy on supplemental
beef imports. The committee will be
comprised of cattlemen, packers, importers, processors and governmental
officials, and will report back to the Minister of Trade and the Minister of
Agriculture and Agri-Food by August 8th, 2003.
This is the second change
implemented to the supplemental imports policy in the last two months. On June 4th, 2003 the government
announced that firms wishing to apply for beef and veal supplemental imports of
non-NAFTA beef were required to first offer the opportunity to supply their
needs to at least five Canadian suppliers.
It was also announced that these imports would not be allowed if a
Canadian supplier were able to meet the applicant’s needs at prices competitive
with a similar product imported into the United States.
Several constituents have contacted
my office inquiring as to why Canada allows any imports of beef at all into
Canada, given the difficulty that the domestic industry is currently
facing. This is a very good question.
Canada has a number of trade agreements with various nations allowing access to
their markets for Canadian beef products. In exchange, Canada allows our
trading partners to have access to our market for their beef products. Due to the discovery of a case of BSE in Alberta,
as a precautionary measure our trading partners closed their borders to
Canadian beef citing health concerns.
As a case of BSE has not been discovered in the herds of our trading
partners, we cannot allay ourselves of the same measure. Were Canada to close its borders to the beef
of our trading partners, we would be in violation of our trading agreement and
subject to various penalties. This
aside, once we had violated our agreement, it would be very unlikely that
Canadian beef would be welcomed back in these markets for a very long time.
To this some have said ‘fine, so be
it’ and suggested that Canadian consumption will absorb domestic
production. This suggestion is
problematic in that Canadian production exceeds domestic consumption by
approximately 700,000 metric tonnes per year.
It would be an unimaginable feat to up domestic consumption by this
amount, and catastrophic for the industry to reduce production by this amount. The only true solution for the industry is
for international markets to be reopened to Canadian beef. The government believe this, and has been
actively working towards reopening the borders now that we have solid science
behind us regarding the isolated case.
The second announcement made on July
18th enhances existing food safety controls. Health Canada and the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency have developed a policy to completely remove
all specified risk materials (SRM) from the food and feed chains. SRM are the bovine tissues that are thought
to contain the agent that transmits BSE.
It should be noted that these tissues are not normally consumed as
food. The new policy will require that
the brain, spinal cord, and other tissues be removed from carcasses of cattle
under 30 months, as it has been scientifically determined that the agent is not
present in these younger cattle. A
portion of the small intestine will be removed from the carcasses of all
cattle. These regulations will be
enacted by July 24th, 2003.
At this time, Canadian beef and beef
products remain safe to eat. This fact
is clearly understood and supported by the Canadian public given that domestic
beef consumption is at an all time high.
This latest move is only a precautionary measure designed to enhance the
food safety network. The development of
this new policy on SRM removal reflects the government’s commitment to
strengthening Canada’s BSE measures and to continue to protect the health of
Canadians and consumers of Canadian beef.
I hope that this information is of
use. For more information, please visit the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s
website www.inspection.gc.ca or
Health Canada’s website at www.hc-sc.gc.ca.
Sincerely,
Paul
Steckle, M.P.
Huron-Bruce