Canadian beef exports to Asia continued an upward climb in 1996 in spite of food safety scares in Japan.
The Canada Beef Export Federation originally targeted exports to increase 40 percent, but that was stalled by worries among Pacific Rim consumers over possible contamination from the E. coli bacteria and bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
The Asian market took 22.7 million kilograms of Canadian beef and veal worth $113 million, up 22 percent from 1995.
“We’ll never know how high we would have been in 1996 without these issues,” said Ted Haney, federation manager.
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The threat of mad cow disease in Europe, E. coli infections in Japan last summer and now foot-and-mouth disease in Taiwan had a tumultuous effect on meat markets, said Haney.
“How will Asian consumers respond to yet another food safety, animal health round of bad news?”
News that beef infected with BSE could be responsible for a terminal brain disease in humans drove Asian consumers away from the meat counter even though they don’t receive any beef from Britain or Europe where BSE is a problem.
Cost to exporters
Outbreaks of E. coli infection that killed 11 people in Japan slowed sales for the exporting nations of New Zealand, Australia, the U.S. and Canada. The effects are showing up in trade statistics now.
Canada holds only about 1.5 percent of the Asian beef market, so it fared relatively well compared to others who lost about 20 percent of their Asian export market.
The major factor for 1997 and 1998 exports is whether there is another outbreak of E. coli in Japan.
The source of the bacteria was never determined, but the Japanese government admitted it came from within the country, not from imported food products. Japan has stepped up standards in its domestic food processing industry and is implementing the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points program wherever possible.
Despite the setbacks, the export federation continues to promote Canadian beef in offices in Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Shanghai, Hong Kong and most recently, Monterey, Mexico.
Mexico fits well because it takes different cuts than buyers like Japan or South Korea. Asians tends to buy front and middle cuts and the Mexicans want hip cuts, said Haney.
