Wade Moser agrees a lot of work has been done to lower the barriers for moving cattle between Canada and the United States.
But there is still more work needed, he said, to eliminate the hoops that North Dakota’s cattle producers face when shipping north into Canada.
“In the past, there hasn’t been a market there simply because of all the hoops that we had to go through,” said Moser, executive vice-president of the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association.
“If there are Canadian feedyards that want those cattle, we shouldn’t have all those barriers.”
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Progress has been made through the restricted feeder entry program set up to ease trade of cattle between Canada and the United States.
And the two countries are working on the rules for regionalization, which would allow cattle to be imported from any region in the U.S that shows it has the same herd health status as Canada.
Moser said unless those efforts continue, more trade conflicts are likely. He would like to one day see cattle moving across the border as freely as Canadian and American people do.
“If there isn’t a level playing field, then there’s some heartburn over it.”
But North Dakota is causing some heartburn for Canadian cattle producers. The state has proposed regulations under its Bill 1276 that would require testing of Canadian cattle for tuberculosis, brucellosis, bluetongue and anaplasmosis.
The regulations also would require certification that Canadian livestock entering the state are free from certain veterinary drugs banned in the state.
Canadian government officials suggest the proposed rules would create an artificial trade barrier, but they were not sure last week how significant that barrier might become.
They have been given verbal assurances that the rules would apply only to livestock entering the state to be fed or slaughtered there. Livestock passing through the state en route to other markets would be exempt.
However, government officials last week said they have been given no assurances in writing.
They also worry about the precedent that could be set if North Dakota goes ahead with its proposed regulations. The federal government and western provinces are lobbying to have the regulations changed, arguing that they don’t comply with U.S. trade obligations.
In the meantime, work continues on regionalization, the strategy to recognize American regions with herd health status akin to Canada’s.
The criteria to evaluate areas of the U.S. seeking that recognition has been shared with the Americans, said Brian Jamieson, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s senior veterinary negotiator on international trade.
