Canada has pried open a crack in China’s beef trade door.The two countries reached a deal in Ottawa to resume trade in boneless beef and industrial tallow from cattle younger than 30 months.An enthusiastic Canadian beef industry said the deal will be worth tens of millions of dollars with the prospect of a $110 million boost in sales if China fulfils a promise to negotiate full access.“This is a historical day where the barriers are coming down for Canada in Mainland China in advance of other countries who have diagnosed BSE in their markets,” Canada Beef Export Federation president Ted Haney said June 24 after the deal was signed during a state visit by Chinese president Hu Jintao.“Mainland China was one of the last two countries to maintain a complete ban on Canadian beef.”Now, the industry will be watching to see if China follows through with a promise to negotiate a complete market opening and how the United States will react.John Masswohl, government relations and trade specialist at the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association Ottawa office, said the staged opening of the Hong Kong market should be the template for continuing negotiations with China. Hong Kong initially agreed to accept boneless beef from animals younger than 30 months,and within a year, had agreed to complete market opening.“We think that next stage needs to happen fairly quickly and the Hong Kong process is a good precedent,” he said in an interview. “I think as we go along, we need to see good faith by the Chinese. If we get the sense we are being stonewalled, we will be concerned about that.”He said the initial limited access under a staged agreement allows the importing country to get comfortable with the Canadian assurance that its product is safe.The Denver-based U.S. Meat Export Federation said American trade negotiators should move to gain the same access.“This deal with China is the latest and most commercially significant breakthrough by the Canadian government on behalf of its beef industry and appears to be a solution fashioned in recognition of the needs and expectations of China,” the USMEF said in a statement. “It is evident that the Canadian government at its highest levels has made restoring beef access to key export markets a top priority on its foreign trade agenda.”The industry said that once full access is negotiated, the Chinese market could take an additional $110 million worth of Canadian product, including beef and tallow.Brian Read, president of the Canadian Meat Council, said China was the largest market to remain closed since the BSE outbreak in 2003.“With a Chinese population greater than 1.3 billion, Canada’s beef industry has an incredible opportunity to fill China’s needs with more Canadian beef,” said the CMC in a statement.Canadian Cattlemen’s Association president Travis Toews praised the federal Conservative government, prime minister Stephen Harper and his ministers for their trade emphasis and support of the CCA market access priority.“China is among one of a few important markets that we have placed a very high priority on gaining access.”Within days of signing the Canada-China deal, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz was on a weekend airplane bound for China and another round of trade promotion.
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