NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. – Canada’s decision to eliminate some long-standing barriers on imports of American cattle will be politically helpful as the United States administration tries to get the border fully open to Canadian cattle of all ages, says a senior U.S. government official.
Chuck Lambert, acting undersecretary in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, told the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association annual meeting Aug. 16 that the current administration is determined to move as quickly as possible to publish a rule that would open the border to imports of Canadian beef and cattle of all ages.
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But there will be resistance. So the Canadian decision to move on lifting import restrictions because of bluetongue, as well as allowing imports of American beef older than 30 months, sends an important political message that will be helpful as the U.S. government tries to sell the open border policy to some skeptical cattle lobbyists.
“We still have to go through the science and an evaluation of the facts, but from the standpoint of industry resistance as that rule goes forward, it (the Canadian action) does help dampen that resistance so it is very helpful on the political front,” Lambert told reporters.
The border was closed in 2003 because of BSE and has since reopened but only for animals and cuts from animals younger than 30 months.
A proposal to broaden that trade access was ready for publishing in late July but was temporarily shelved after Canada reported a seventh case of BSE.
Lambert told CCA delegates a revised version of the rule will be published for public comment as soon as the final reports on the latest BSE case are completed. He would not predict a date but later told reporters it should happen in 2007.
“It is a priority for the administration that we move to complete harmonization of the North American market,” he told the CCA meeting. “There has been no deviation from that.”
Lambert told CCA delegates that the new rule must be challenge-proof because R-CALF almost certainly will challenge it. That is part of the delay.
“We need to take full account of this from a scientific basis so that in the event of a challenge, we make sure all the legal questions have been answered, all the scientific questions.”
The USDA official said the U.S. is moving toward a comprehensive animal identification system despite growing resistance in some sectors of the cattle industry.
Meanwhile, it is reducing its BSE testing to 40,000 animals per year, which Lambert said still exceeds international requirements.
During the conference, CCA vice-president Brad Wildeman also raised the testing issue, noting that some American critics have suggested Canada is lax in testing for BSE.
He said that with a cattle herd one-seventh the size of the American herd, Canada does proportionately far more testing than the U.S. – more than 32,000 animals in 2006.
“We are testing our share,” he said.
