WINNIPEG – The federal government is poised to ban use of potentially dangerous nervous system material from the Canadian food chain, but has delayed the announcement while trying to convince the United States to join the ban.
On July 10, after a federal-provincial agriculture ministers’ meeting, a communiqué said ministers “endorsed the need to implement new measures to completely remove specified risk materials from food.”
SRMs include spinal cord, brain, eyes and some nerves that are considered potential carriers of bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Their removal was recommended by an international team of experts that reviewed Canada’s response to the case of one BSE incident in Alberta.
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“We all agreed on the need to move very quickly on new measures to completely remove SRMs from food,” federal minister Lyle Vanclief told a news conference at the end of the meeting.
Federal sources say an announcement was planned for July 11 and again for July 14 but was delayed because the Americans were balking at moving that far that fast.
Any move by Canada to impose a ban could jeopardize half a billion dollars worth of American exports to Canada annually. Since May 20, the border south has been closed to Canada’s exports, valued at $4 billion annually.
“This is a very sensitive issue that involves agriculture, health, trade,” said a federal official. “There is a reluctance to announce anything if there is even a slim chance that an agreement might be possible with trading partners, particularly the U.S.”
Meanwhile, a senior official in the Canadian cattle industry said the government should get on with the changes.
Canada Beef Export Federation president Ted Haney said July 14 that Ottawa has been ready “for a week or two” to announce changes. “We have to move quickly on this.”
On July 9, he told reporters in Winnipeg that if the U.S. continues to delay opening the border, Canada must be willing to revise its animal sector regulations unilaterally to try to break open the border in other countries.
He said that since the Americans are not making their decision based on scientific evidence about the lack of BSE in the Canadian herd, Canada must look beyond that market.
“Further significant delays in the United States in opening their market would force the Canadian hand to work in advance of any changes to American regulations,” he said. “We must take certain actions to gain access to other key markets in Mexico and Asia.”
Hopes for quick border openings were dealt a blow when a July 12 meeting between Vanclief and Japanese agriculture minister Yoshiyuki Kamei produced no movement on Japan’s refusal to open the border.
A delegation from the beef federation found that Mexico will open its border only when the USDA assures it the action will not jeopardize access for Mexican cattle into the U.S.
There are U.S. fears that Japan, already threatening to stop importing American beef if it cannot guarantee the absence of Canadian content, would respond the same way if Mexico could not guarantee that no Canadian cattle would be in their shipments north.
“That is not an issue,” said a frustrated Haney. “We all are waiting for that letter from the USDA.”
In Winnipeg, federal and provincial ministers emerged with a plan to revise the BSE compensation package in response to industry complaints and to work together to press Canada’s case.
“I’m satisfied leaving this meeting today that we have a full court press,” said Saskatchewan minister Clay Serby. “If there appears to be a bit of a hiatus somewhere, it’s not evident.”
