Like a player in a chess match, Stan Eby last week outlined the strategy the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association will use to check American efforts to bring in mandatory country-of-origin labelling.
Voluntary labelling guidelines for products like beef and pork were written into the 2002 U.S. farm bill. The guidelines could become mandatory in September 2004, potentially stalling livestock movement into the United States and driving down cattle and hog prices.
Eby, vice-president of the CCA, said his association has a three-pronged strategy to try to lower the threat of mandatory country-of-origin labelling.
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The CCA and other commodity groups are working with the federal government to consider a challenge through the World Trade Organization. If the challenge goes ahead, the argument would be that country-of-origin labelling impedes trade and commerce, Eby said last week during the annual meeting of the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association in Brandon.
A second prong of the strategy is to work with packers and food retailers to forge a strong lobby that can pressure the U.S. government. That effort draws on support from within both Canada and the U.S.
“Basically, we’re lobbying to get the word mandatory removed,” Eby said.
The third prong emphasizes marketing. That includes efforts to strengthen Canadian demand for beef, while building on relationships with American packers and retailers, and expanding beef exports to Mexico and Asia. The marketing efforts could help soften the blow if the labels become mandatory.
American consumers are not as loyal to food produced in their country as some people suggest, Eby said. That offers an opportunity to build demand south of the border for beef branded as Canadian.
