European Union inspectors are recommending Canadian meat and dairy imports be banned because they may be harmful due to hormone and other chemical residues.
If Europe acts on the recommendation, it will start another bitter trade dispute between Canada and the EU, say officials.
Canadian government and livestock industry representatives quickly denounced the report as more related to trade than health.
Agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief said Nov. 20 that Canada will take Europe to trade court if it tries to ban the small amount of Canadian product still allowed to enter the EU.
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“Our system is reliable. This report contains no new scientific evidence and it is totally trade-driven,” Vanclief said in a Toronto interview.
At the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association in Calgary, Dennis Laycraft said past European bans on North American meat have been based more on an attempt to keep imports out than to keep people healthy.
“I was surprised they raised the issue of not being able to track disease when we have a very good record, while Europe is going through a series of serious problems with their own system,” he said.
Health, labor and environmental activists grouped under the Canadian Health Coalition took a different view.
They saw this as proof that Canada’s food inspection system has deteriorated and become too beholden to food manufacturers.
The health coalition obtained copies of the confidential European report and made it available to selected journalists last weekend before making it public earlier this week.
The EU inspectors, who toured Canadian packing plants and investigated the inspection system in September, allege that Canada cannot guarantee meat and dairy products are free of hormones and other chemicals.
In a report to EU officials in Brussels, the inspectors suggest there are deficiencies in how Canada regulates, inspects and monitors food.
One specific criticism is that cattle are not yet individually tracked through the system, making it more difficult to find the source of food-borne disease.
Roy Christensen, an EU official in Ottawa, said the preliminary report will be made available to the Canadian government for comment before a final report by mid-December.
Vanclief said Canada will dispute the allegations made in the report.
“It’s very clear they are trying to divert from a very difficult situation that continues to rear its reality,” he said. The minister was referring to a continued uproar in Europe over the stubborn presence of mad cow disease in the beef supply.
Laycraft said no food inspection system, including the Canadian system, can be free from criticism.
“On balance, our system has served us extremely well,” he said. “Looking at its track record, we feel it is one of the best in the world. But we keep monitoring it and recognize that it can always be improved.”
If the Europeans did impose a ban, little Canadian product would be affected. Canada ships approximately 1,000 tonnes of beef and pork products to the EU, as well as horse meat.
“It is a trickle compared to our production and exports,” said Laycraft.
But on principle, Canada would fight any ban.
When the EU banned imports of beef raised using growth hormones, Canada and the United States took the EU to the World Trade Organization. They won a decision that said there is no scientific basis for considering those products unsafe.
The EU has refused to obey a ruling of a disputes settlement panel that the border be opened. Canada and the U.S. have retaliated with duties on selected European products entering North American markets.
Vanclief said a similar complaint will be made to the WTO if the Europeans act again.
On Nov. 20, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency did not respond to requests for comment on the European inspectors’ report.
