Licensing Canadian plants to produce Certified Angus Beef may be one way to get around grading disputes with the Americans, but it wasn’t planned that way.
“A lot of people are connecting that. It is a coincidence,” said a spokesperson for the Certified Angus Beef program.
The product is available in Canada through several restaurant and retail chains. Licensing Canadian processors seemed to be the next step, said Steve Suther.
“They saw a number of advantages down the road,” he said.
In the last few years, American packers have imported more high quality Canadian carcasses that meet the certified requirements.
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As part of the program, these carcasses receive the United States Department of Agriculture grades and Angus certification, a practice deemed unacceptable by many American producers.
Some major U.S. packers threatened in the past to circumvent the grading issue by applying their own quality label on carcasses and further processed cuts.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association continues to pressure the government to end the use of the USDA quality grade on imported beef carcasses.
American producers also want Congress to legislate a prohibition of USDA quality grades on cattle imported for immediate processing.
In addition, a coalition of commodity and industry groups including the cattle producers have petitioned agriculture secretary Dan Glickman to consider voluntary beef labeling.
A “Beef: Made in the U.S.A.” label would provide a program for retailers and food service operators to voluntarily promote U.S. beef.
“Providing a distinction between U.S. beef and imported beef could give U.S. consumers greater knowledge about the products they consume,” said NCBA president George Hall in a news release.
The petition recommended that to qualify for the Made in the U.S.A. program, beef products must originate from cattle raised and fed a minimum of 100 days and processed without leaving the U.S.
Those wanting to verify their status under the Made in the U.S.A. program would have to maintain adequate systems and records.
The American Farm Bureau Federation, the Food Marketing Institute, the National Meat Association, and the American Meat Institute also signed the petition.
