ST.-ANDREWS-BY-THE-SEA, N.B. – Two years ago, Canada’s agriculture ministers, with the exception of Saskatchewan, promised to see a national mandatory livestock traceability system in place by the end of this year.
On July 8 at the end of the annual ministers’ meeting, they recognized “progress being made on a national livestock traceability system due to the shared efforts of industry and governments to move it forward.”
The translation is that the 2011 deadline will not be met.
However, ministers insisted efforts to expand traceability are already far enough advanced to be having an effect domestically and internationally, even if the 100 percent goal was not achieved.
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Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said the cattle industry, which originally resisted the plan because of costs, now says its goal is 90 percent completed.
“Any time I have 90 percent, I think I’ve won,” he said.
“We’re now leading the pack when it comes to Australia, Argentina, the U.S. and so on when it comes to traceability and I welcome that.”
He said Canada’s progress has been helpful in trade talks.
“Certainly it helped us in reinvigorating our talks with Korea,” he said.
“We’ve had tremendous discussions with Japan that could lead toward a free trade agreement based on these traceability systems in our food supply systems.”
In Manitoba, agriculture minister Stan Struthers said farmer participation in traceability and farm identification systems has been an important domestic tool.
He said an avian influenza outbreak on a turkey farm before Christmas did not spread because all turkey farms in the province had identified their premises.
“We were able with our federal partners to move in quickly to contain the outbreak, so not only was it helpful to farmers but I think we protected their market,” said Struthers.
He said premise ID also helped the province identify where animals were at risk when dikes were breached in this year’s Souris River floods.
“It was a very useful tool and traceability preparations have proven themselves.”
For Saskatchewan agriculture minister Bon Bjornerud, the missed deadline is vindication. He was the only minister to dissent when the 2011 commitment was made, insisting that it was unrealistic and inappropriately mandatory.
