For the Canadian beef industry, the name’s the thing when it comes to selling into international markets.
The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association has asked Ottawa to rename beef grades and create grading equivalency with the United States Department of Agriculture grading system.
“USDA Choice is the benchmark,” said Cindy Delaloye of the Canadian Beef Grading Agency.
The Canadian Meat Council, which includes packers, cattle producers and grocers’ associations, supports the idea because recognizable names would make beef an easier sell in American and overseas markets. Australia recently changed its grade names to parallel the U.S.
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Canada argues that the marbling standards for USDA Prime, Choice and Select are identical to those used in Canada Prime, AAA and AA respectively.
“It is not a new issue. As trade dependent as we are, we wanted to be as close to the American industry as we can be,” said Arno Doerksen, chair of the cattlemen’s beef grading committee.
The proposal goes before a meeting in late April of the industry-government consultative committee on beef grading.
Canada wants its beef recognized as having the same level of quality as the American product but the proposal has been rejected by the U.S. cattle industry. The Americans argue that the USDA grade is an internationally recognized trademark and no imitations should be accepted.
The Beef Information Centre claims names do make a difference. After introducing name changes for individual beef cuts last year, beef sales in test markets increased about 20 percent.
