A high ranking American government official offered no hint as to when Canada’s live cattle trade could resume with the United States.
“There is a whole lot of speculation around it and I don’t intend to add to that speculation because there are a lot of things that could affect the timing,” said Chuck Lambert, deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The final rule allowing live trade is working its way through the legislative process, Lambert told 400 people at an international livestock congress held in Calgary July 16.
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Lambert said he realized Canadians are increasingly frustrated with a perceived U.S. intransigence, and added that all scientific evidence is being analyzed to work toward restoring trade since borders closed due to a single case of BSE in Canada 14 months ago.
“We have gone through that process with respect to expanding trade with Canada and other minimum risk countries.”
Lambert said his government’s legislative procedures are responsible for the slow movement on publishing the rule to allow Canadian livestock back in. Normally it could take two to three years for a rule to go through the process of public comments, government review, rule writing and further evaluation before it goes to the federal register. He reminded the group that borders are not entirely closed since certain boneless cuts were readmitted last September.
“On the beef side we have seen a strong resumption of trade with Canada,” he said.
Full trade restoration was delayed when an Alberta-born cow was diagnosed with BSE last December in Washington state.
The U.S. was shut out of most major markets except Canada. Since then, about 90 percent of trade has been resumed with Mexico. The $1.4 billion trade with Japan and South Korea has halted but discussions are ongoing and Lambert predicts beef sales trade could be resumed within a reasonable time.
“We are having science-based discussion between the U.S. and Japanese scientists as we speak,” he said.
U.S. may squeeze in
Most recently American scientists and beef industry leaders met with their Japanese counterparts at Fort Collins, Colorado. The next set of discussions will be in Japan, leading to speculation that exports to Asia could resume before trade with Canadian animals.
Fearing the worst, Canada’s beef industry is meeting July 22-23 to cobble together plans before the fall feeder run, said Dennis Laycraft, executive vice-president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association.
“We are developing marketing programs that will reduce our dependence on live cattle exports,” he said.
Currently, boneless beef exports are exported to 23 countries with the largest amount still going to the U.S. and Mexico. Canadian provincial and federal packers are processing nearly 70,000 head per week, but it is generally agreed more kill space is needed to handle the growing number of older animals not accepted for export. Laycraft said a try-anything mentality is developing because of widespread frustration in the countryside.
“Everything we have tried to date hasn’t worked,” he said.
Closed borders have taught Canada it must lessen its dependence on the American market, particularly for live trade.
When the new U.S. rule is published, it could serve as a template for the rest of the world, but there are concerns it may be challenged in court by groups opposed to renewing trade.
Getting back into Asian markets is not going to be easy, said Ted Haney, president of the Canada Beef Export Federation. Even if market access improves for overseas beef, it is not likely to improve the price of live steers at home.
