The Real Issue Facing Canadian Cattle Producers

[kato]

I realize that a country should have the right to make rules about it's imports, but the thing is that under NAFTA, the country of origin of meat is defined as the country in which it is processed. Canada, the U.S. and Mexico all signed this document, and the expectation is that those signatures should mean something.

MCOOL changes that rule unilaterally with no regard to anything signed in NAFTA. The document we have been told is supposed to lay out the guidelines by which we can make business decisions with some expectation of security is not worth the paper it's written on. Does that mean the word of the American government is worth nothing either? I'd like to think that isn't so.

The worst thing about this is that it will have absolutely no effect on any country except one that exports live cattle to the U.S., and that would be Canada and Mexico. Not South America, not Australia. It will be business as usual for them.

This is a trade barrier, aimed at live cattle, and aimed directly and exclusively at us. If we actually had enough processors here to make a real functioning market it wouldn't be so bad, but sad to say, without competing bids from south of the border, we'd be living 2003 all over again.

After all our struggles over the past years we could very well end up even more vulnerable than ever.

There is time to address this issue, but only if we focus on it now, before it's too late. We need our trading partners to honour their word, and live up to their agreements. It's expected of us, so it should be expected of them.

[blackjack]

...kato where could i find the information on why the usa would not buy fats after cool...has the american packing industry been quoted they would lose if they processed the canadian fats...

...if the trend continues more ranchers will retire or if the operation can afford to...it will diversify to the grain sector...

...sorry to say this but the north american govts subsidizing of the bio industry is basically telling livestock producers that it is way more important to follow enviro economics and politics than worry about food production...now if we could only have al gore stand up and win a nobel peace prize for eating home raised canadian beef...

[DiamondSCattleCo]

"but the thing is that under NAFTA, the country of origin of meat is defined as the country in which it is processed."

Thanks for this info, Kato. I didn't realize that was in NAFTA. The Americans have ignored so much in NAFTA that it would be nice to see them stood tall on this.

However, Hugh has been quoted several times in the trade magazines as saying that the Canadian government must fight MCOOL. I took that to mean that he felt MCOOL should be abolished from the books, which is simply none of our business. As long as the Americans honor the NAFTA agreement, they can do anything they please.

Rod

[kato]

blackjack, I got the info from a cattle buyer who's in the know, and who's opinion I respect. He doubts that there is a plant, especially a big one, in the States that will want to bother with the segregation of the meat.

With the two biggest American players already having set up shop here, they'll be much happier to just steal em at home.

deja vu all over again......

[blackjack]

...kato...thanks...i respect what you post as being very knowlegable...if that is the case it is that more disappointing that our canadian govt has not made these nafta concerns a priority...the cool talk has been going on for some years now as well...so one would think there would be a backup plan ...oh yeah...there is cais right...

[rkaiser]

Good day farmers_son. Sure was a good article you posted which completely dismisses all of the testing arguments on this board. LOL

Sounds more like the Japanese have a fight on their hands than anything. A fight like ours between the American packers trying to push their way on the Japanese government with help from NCBA and ABP/CCA. The fight to stop the consumer form being the decision maker in their requirements.

I know that you like to think you are smarter than the average consumer farmers_son, and feel that these lowly folk need to be led by you and your packer buddies, but I think that you will fail.

If you are so certain that you are right old buddy. Why not take the question to the Canadian consumer with an ABP Gallup poll? Present all of you points about why they do not need testing and then simply ask them if they would choose a tested product or a non tested product. Now that - my dear sir would end the discussion.

Like that would ever happen. ABP/CCA actually ask anybody anything.

We could even do a poll in the US of A to see how many customers we could gain rather than lose to the new cool laws. Would you like a BSE tested Canadian beef product, in your freezer Ms. Winfrey?

[per]

Maybe Ms. Winfrey would be interested in sponsering such a pole.

[rkaiser]

I always thought I was a German until indeed my grandmother said that I was of Polish decent Phil......

[per]

Being that I am Welsh, English is my second language! pole, poll Don't they come from the same Latin root or is that route?

[farmers_son]

Rkaiser: You know very well I have no packer buddies.

I was thinking of your poll. Please check out this site:

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dalbook.html

It is the handbook of acceptable defects in food products. I am sure if you polled Mrs. American Consumer she would say she did not want any insect filth in her ground allspice, she would like less than 12% mold in her apple butter, fewer than 20 maggots in 100 grams of dried mushrooms, no rodent hairs in her peanut butter, less than 1 mg of mammalian feces in a pound of ground pepper. In fact if you did not conduct such a poll it would never even occur to Mrs. Consumer that her pepper had more than just pepper in it.

I get a lot from the discussions here on Agri-ville. What I got out of this discussion on BSE testing is that people still have strong beliefs concerning BSE testing, on all sides of the issue. Not one of us carries views that they believe are wrong. Everyone believes their views are right so that must mean another perspective is wrong even to the point of thinking the other person is a horses_ass, packer lover and so on. There are people who want BSE testing for marketing purposes, people who want BSE testing for food safety, people who do not want any BSE testing. There are other people out there who believe raising animals for food is morally wrong and actually sinful and that we are all going to hell in a hand basket. They have a point of view too.

So how does the world operate and not fall into conflict and chaos given that there all are those conflicting views and beliefs out there? When it comes to food the world uses science. And science does not poll the consumer for his or her views on food safety. If they did there would not be pepper on our retail shelves because it may not be possible to produce pepper without any risk of animal feces in the product. Science actually does not poll producers for their opinion either. Science is not a democracy and is not based on my opinion or your opinion or the majority of opinions on Agri-ville or Zone 6 or Alberta, or Montana or Japan either.

When Canada had its first case of BSE in May 2003, the world did not poll Alberta cattle producers or consumers either in Japan or the U.S. to get their opinions on what should be done about it. The world, represented by the OIE, sent in a International Review Committee made up by scientists from all over the world that made recommendations about what Canada had to do to ensure a safe food supply. The matter was not debated in the Alberta Legislature or the Canadian Parliament, we just did what the science said had to be done. It was not democratic at all. When the United States had their first case of BSE in December 2003, the response was not decided in the U.S. Congress or the Senate or any U.S. State like Montana. The world scientific community, the OIE, sent in the exact same International Review Committee with the addition of one scientist from, if I recall Britain, to review their food safety protocols and make recommendations, which they did. And this International Review Committee made up from renowned scientists from all over the world made the same recommendations for the United States as they did in Canada with the unusual additional comment that the United States could not view BSE as a Canadian problem, rather BSE had to be viewed as a North American problem.

Since then both the U.S. and Canada have implemented the food safety protocols demanded by the OIE and as a result both countries have been declared “Controlled Risk” for BSE and our beef is therefore safe to export around the world. We achieved that status because, among other things, we followed the BSE testing protocols outlined by the OIE as determined by the science not by any particular interest group.

When Canada and the U.S. discovered BSE in their herds, the media coverage that resulted was no different than telling the world there is mammalian feces in your pepper. To the credit of the Canadian consumer domestic consumption of beef actually increased during that period. And live cattle and beef trade has resumed with the United States even if it took too long for it to happen, given they have the same problem with their pepper we do. Even Japan has stopped looking for feces in its under 21 months old pepper and are following the OIE protocols for food safety. They recognize the young animals never have feces in the pepper. Talks are continuing to get Japan to only test OTM cattle which would see Japan consistently follow the OIE guidelines. Japan does this even in the face of what I would expect to be some resistance from the consumers because even Japan knows consumers cannot establish food safety guidelines and that food safety must be determined by science or the food system would fall into chaos.

Like it or not, when it comes to food safety, the customer is not always right and food safety is determined by science not a democracy. We have to rely on science to set how the bar is place when it comes to food safety, whether we talking about mammalian feces in the pepper, mold in the apple butter or BSE testing. If food safety were allowed to become a marketing issue than we would start to see companies put labels on their pepper product declaring it to be “Feces Free”. The very predictable response from consumers would not be to think that company’s pepper was any better but rather to never eat pepper again. I think the consumer response to BSE testing for marketing purposes would be exactly the same. However in the case of North American cattle, food safety is achieved by removal of the SRMs so the problem is all gone anyway and the science says the product is completely safe. But if companies insist on marketing pepper as “Feces Free” I sure would not want to be a pepper grower.

But hey…that is just me. Everyone has their own opinion and I respect that. And please pass the pepper, it just fine.