Producers wanting to ship live cattle into the United States when the border reopens could encounter some headaches, says the vice-president of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association.
No date has been set for when exports of live cattle to the U.S. will resume, but Larry Schweitzer worries that too few ports of entry are being considered as places to handle cattle shipments when that day arrives.
The understanding he had last week is that only four western Canadian ports are being considered for that purpose, one per province.
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“In 2002, we put 525,000 head into the U.S.,” Schweitzer said.
“How are we going to put 525,000 head from Western Canada into the U.S. through four ports? That just isn’t going to happen.”
Canada and the U.S. have not finalized rules on designated border crossings for live cattle exports. Brian Jamieson of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said he has no factual basis to support the view that only four ports in Western Canada are being considered.
“We have no way of knowing what the final rule is going to be, so there’s no sense guessing,” said Jamieson, senior veterinary negotiator for the CFIA’s import-export division.
“Until we see a proposal to do it, we’re not going to be prepared to comment on it.”
Schweitzer said the issue is especially critical in Manitoba. The province has only a small cattle slaughter capacity in comparison to Alberta. As a result, a large number of its cattle were exported to the U.S. before the border closed in May 2003 when BSE was discovered in Canada.
According to Manitoba Agriculture, the province exported 262,000 beef cattle to the U.S. in 2002, almost half of its production.
Besides the worry over congestion, Schweitzer said there is also the issue of convenience.
The information he has is that the port being considered in Manitoba is at Emerson, on the eastern side of the province. He would like another port designated for western Manitoba because producers in that area were also large cattle exporters.
The Manitoba Cattle Producers Association has been lobbying American officials over the issue, directing its efforts at the U.S. consulates in Winnipeg and Ottawa and at the American ambassador to Canada.
