Canada has learned hard lessons after living with BSE and its trade repercussions, says the country’s chief veterinary officer.
“Full recovery obviously depends on how well we assimilate and apply the lessons learned from the last four years,” Brian Evans of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency told the Canada Beef Export Federation’s annual meeting held in Calgary Sept. 21-22.
“Some of those lessons have been learned at extreme cost and in other circumstances perhaps there were opportunities and lessons that we did not take full advantage of,” he said.
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Canada continues to strive for trade normalization.
The World Animal Health Organization (OIE) granted it controlled risk status in May and the United States announced regulations in September that will allow the importation of cattle older than 30 months and beef from cattle of all ages this November.
“We’re starting to see a domino effect that will hopefully take us forward and re-establish Canada in the appropriate way at the international level,” he said.
Evans also reminded beef exporters that Canada must renew its OIE status every year. Next year 35 more countries are seeking new BSE status so there will be a wave of other countries trying to get into markets where Canada enjoys a small window of opportunity.
To build Canada’s reputation for sound food safety standards, he added, Canada’s beef industry should align itself with other beef producing nations at the OIE.
As well, the CFIA has placed veterinarians in Beijing, Brussels, Tokyo and Mexico with three more postings expected soon. It’s hoped the vets can become effective international trade negotiators and explain the Canadian regulatory regime.
While Canadians may argue domestic regulations are costly and flawed, Evans said they still carry weight at the international level.
The government also realizes policies to promote food safety are expensive. The enhanced feed ban is an example of where costs for removal and disposal are nearly twice what was expected. Funds are available to offset the costs and further work is ongoing to find ways to make it cheaper.
When asked why the CFIA blocked private BSE testing of cattle to supply offshore markets, Evans said Canada tests cattle to assess prevalence of the disease rather than to guarantee food safety.
“I have never said as the chief veterinary officer that there is a differentiation that can be made between testing for market access purposes and testing for food safety purposes,” he said.
“We do not believe the use of CFIA resources for surveillance purposes should be diverted to testing which does not achieve a food safety or public trust outcome in Canada.”
He added testing for market access might be considered if a private company could provide a solid business case and meet all requirements from an importing country to hold specified risk materials and carcasses while testing was done, as well as outline how it might handle a positive diagnosis or a false positive. The company would also have to meet CFIA food quality assurance standards.
“In a similar matter as CFIA, we have undertaken to discuss this issue broadly with industry and we have not had an industry consensus to support the government of Canada moving away from that position,” Evans said.
