Agriculture minister Gerry Ritz found common cause with Mexican politicians yesterday on fighting American livestock protectionism but not so much on reversing continuing Mexican protectionism against Canadian beef imports.
Mexico is a partner with Canada in fighting country-of-origin labelling rules in the United States that effectively restrict livestock imports.
Canada is threatening up to $1 billion annually in retaliation against U.S. imports if Washington does not change the rule by the May 23 deadline set by the World Trade Organization after a WTO panel decided the COOL rules are illegal protectionism.
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After meetings in Mexico City, Ritz told a telephone news conference that Mexico is on side with its own plan for retaliation.
However, Ritz said he received no assurances of change when he raised the decade-long dispute over Mexican restrictions on Canadian beef imports.
Mexico bans import of Canadian beef from animals older than 30 months, harking back to the BSE crisis of 2003.
Ritz said the restriction is not justified by internationally accepted standards of animal safety and risk.
“Well, they say it’s a health issue,” he said.
“They’ve been hiding behind that old saw for a while now. We had some very productive discussions here (and) we look forward to resolution.”
Ritz suggested a trade-off is possible
“The Mexicans are looking for access to our beef sector into Canada,” he said.
“I think there’s certainly things that we can do here jointly that would address both of those issues.”
Although there was no commitment from the Mexican government to open the border to all beef exports, Ritz said both governments will continue to talk on the issue.
“When it comes to the over 30 months, the optimist in me says that yes, the time and place is right for movement on that issue, and, you know, hopefully within the coming weeks we’ll see something,” he said.
Ritz also met with grain industry representatives while in Mexico.
He said he assured them that the end of the CWB single desk will not affect their access to Canadian grain.
He also promoted creating international standards to allow low-level presence of unapproved and unintended genetically modified material in shipments of grain and oilseeds.
