Peru has reopened to Canadian cattle imports.
The federal government announced today that live Canadian cattle trade can begin immediately in animals born after Aug. 1, 2007. Value of trade in the coming year is estimated at $2.5 million, primarily in dairy animals, said a government news release.
Canada has had a free trade agreement with Peru since 2009, and the South American country becomes the seventh market in Latin America and the Caribbean to reopen its borders to Canadian cattle since 2003, the year BSE was discovered in Canada.
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Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz complimented his government on its record of reopening markets with potential benefit to livestock producers and consumers.
“Country by country, market by market, we are diversifying opportunities for Canadian livestock farmers so that their hard work is rewarded with more sales to more consumers around the globe,” he said.
Rick McRonald, executive director of the Canadian Livestock Genetics Association, said the reopening of Peru followed agreements on health certificate negotiations for Canadian cattle.
Total Canadian agriculture imports to Peru totalled more than $247 million last year, primarily in grain and pulses.
