A parliamentary committee recommendation to limit the amount of cheap processing beef and veal allowed into Canada from countries outside of the North American Free Trade Agreement is welcome news, said Canadian Cattlemen Association officials.
Just before Parliament recessed for Christmas, the House of Commons agriculture committee tabled a report in the House that would permanently constrain the use of supplemental import permits from countries like Australia, New Zealand or Argentina to 1,500 tonnes a year. Canada is required to allow 76,409 tonnes of imported beef tariff-free under its World Trade Organization commitments, but in the past processors have asked for more, using the supplemental import permit process.
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Trade issues existed long before U.S. president Donald Trump and his on-again, off-again tariffs came along, said panelists at a policy summit last month.
Before BSE in 2003, more than 135,000 tonnes of meat was brought into Canada from the non-NAFTA countries.
“It really drove our packing industry out of business,” said Brad Wildeman, CCA vice-president.
The cheap beef imports, used mostly for hamburger and processed meats, forced Canadian cull cattle south to be slaughtered in the United States, creating a vicious circle of low priced beef that made it difficult for Canadian packing plants to survive.
After BSE, Canadians demanded Canadian beef in their hamburgers and sandwiches to support domestic beef producers.
To meet that demand, slaughter capacity increased to its present 105,000 head per week from 72,000.
The number of older cattle slaughtered in Canada has also increased from about 8,000 per week in 2003 to as many as 18,000 head.
The use of domestic manufactured beef within Canada has increased to 80 percent from 25 percent, said Wildeman.
“Producers want Canadians to eat Canadian beef.”
The foreign affairs minister oversees the supplementary import permit program. Under the recommendation, he may allow supplementary imports up to 1,500 tonnes per year if applicants demonstrate they have undertaken all possible efforts to buy Canadian beef or veal.
In exceptional circumstances, permits exceeding 1,500 tonnes might be allowed, but an explanation would have to be submitted to the House of Commons.
“Some of it’s a bit symbolic, but in the long term I think it’s pretty important,” said Wildeman.
