A team of Canadian, American and Mexican food inspection officials headed to Brazil on Feb. 12 to try to verify that the country is mad cow disease-risk free, a pre-condition to reopening North America’s $87 million market for Brazilian beef products.
The borders were closed on Feb. 2 when Canadian officials announced that Brazil had not provided enough information to prove that European cattle imported during the 1990s had been traced and are not in the food system.
The Canadian-led food inspection mission will be looking for evidence that the Brazilian beef herd is safe, agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief said in the House of Commons.
Read Also
Canadian Food Inspection Agency slammed for handling of bovine tuberculosis case
The federal government leans heavily on producers to “take one for the team” and risk their livelihoods without any reassurance of support.
“If so, we will resume trade immediately.”
He insisted that the temporary ban on imported Brazilian corned beef and beef extract — worth $5.5 million (US) in Canada but more than $82 million in the U.S. — is solely a food safety issue.
The ban raised a storm of domestic and international protest, part of a week of challenges to Canada’s food inspection and safety system.
Brazil, which has never had a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, threatened trade retaliation and insisted it was part of Canada’s battle with Brazil over aerospace subsidies.
In Canada, opposition critics questioned the government’s motives and suggested the food inspection system was being politicized.
Vanclief was adamant.
“I categorically deny that this has anything to do with trade and everything to do with the safety of the food system and the food coming into Canada.”
Michael McBane, an activist with the Canadian Health Coalition, said Statistics Canada figures show Canada imported bone meal, blood meal and animal parts from Europe as recently as last year.
“Our beef herd is more at risk than the Brazilian herd is.”
Brian Evans, chief veterinarian for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said it is a misreading of the statistics, which indicate 2.6 million kilograms of meal, feed and meat products had been imported from Europe.
He said blood meal imports have been stopped and a trace has proven that none of the blood meal imported before last year’s ban was fed to animals. Some ended up in fish food.
Also included
Other ingredients in the import statistics included charcoal, which is sometimes used in animal feed or to purify sugar, and animal parts “that are used as pet chews, things like pig ears and bull pizzles and types of things that dogs and cats like to eat.”
He said no suspect animal protein from Europe has been fed to bovines.
Canadian Alliance agriculture critic Howard Hilstrom was not convinced. He wondered aloud if the Liberals were “abusing that (food inspection) system for their own political goals.”
But through the maelstrom, the government maintained the support of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and the Consumers Association of Canada.
“The CFIA and Health Canada are doing the right thing here,” CCA animal health committee member Stan Eby said.
“It is important to do whatever is necessary to protect our food supply. The minister had a conference call and the Consumers Association of Canada endorsed the government action as well.”
