In political Ottawa, everyone was too polite to say so bluntly, but the underlying reaction to last week’s confirmation of an American BSE case was clear: “We told you so.”
And a corollary was that the confirmed case should help convince American judges that BSE is not a Canadian problem from which the U.S. must be protected.
Canadian officials reacted to a U.S. BSE case as they wished American leaders had reacted to Canada’s case in May 2003.
Canada said the border to American cattle should remain open.
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“We do not see the need for additional import restrictions given the measures that Canada and the U.S. have put in place, which are in accordance with science-based international standards,” said federal agriculture minister Andy Mitchell
“This is no surprise,” said prime minister Paul Martin, alluding to long-standing Canadian arguments that the American industry is as likely to have BSE as the Canadian industry.
“It’s too soon to say whether this will help the USDA (United States department of agriculture) get the temporary injunction lifted on July 13 but clearly we believe and the U.S. government believes the border should be open,” deputy prime minister and Alberta MP Anne McLellan added.
“There’s no science to support the closing of the border and the continuation of the closing of the border.”
Even the opposition got into the act.
“The confirmation of a positive case of BSE in the American cattle herd has shown what producers around the world have known for years,” Alberta MP and Conservative trade critic Ted Menzies said in the House of Commons June 27. “We are all in this together.”
While Canada was taking a business-as-usual approach to the U.S. announcement, other countries were not.
Japanese officials said the announcement would make them more cautious in deciding when they should reopen their market to American beef.
Taiwan, which had opened the border to American beef products, closed it on the weekend after the BSE news.
On June 24 when he announced the first indigenous case of BSE in the U.S. herd, American agriculture secretary Mike Johanns pleaded with the world to continue considering U.S. beef safe.
“I appreciate the calm, the very thoughtful reactions we’ve heard from many of our trading partners including Japan and Canada,” he said, before Japanese officials expressed doubt. “They are basing their decisions on science, the international language, and that’s exactly what we’ve asked them to do because science clearly indicates that the safety of our beef is there.”
Johanns reacted as Canadian politicians had reacted more than two years ago when BSE was discovered in an Alberta cow. He told consumers he had eaten beef for lunch and it was safe.
In Ottawa, New Democrat agriculture critic Charlie Angus said in an interview the U.S. BSE case should make it easier to get the border open to live cattle but the real Canadian issue should be developing policies that reduce Canadian dependence on the U.S. market and reducing the overwhelming stranglehold that American packing plants have on the Canadian beef market.
Meanwhile, Canada used a visit to Ottawa June 27 by the Vietnamese president to pry open another market for Canadian beef.
Vietnam wants to join the World Trade Organization and must make accession deals with all existing WTO members.
Canada used its desire for beef access as its quid pro quo.
“In parallel with the WTO accession discussions, Vietnam has agreed to provide access to Canadian boneless beef under 30Êmonths, with a commitment to technical discussions on access for other beef products and live animals from Canada,” Agriculture Canada said in a written statement late June 27.
The department sees an opportunity for tens of millions of dollars worth of beef trade.
