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Japan, Korea and a host of other nations have refused to accept Canadian beef unless it is tested for mad cow. Japan spent $21 million and South Korea $470,000 on Canadian beef annually before the disease's discovery.
Both counties, as well as Germany, have already sent letters indicating they will reopen their borders to co-op products if its proposed $4.2-million slaughterhouse is allowed to do the testing and is built to European Union standards, said Tender Beef Co-op officials.
The federal government has agreed to spend $92.1 million over the next five years to increase the number of slaughtered cattle tested for mad cow annually from the current 5,500 to 30,000, but thus far it has not been enough to convince top international customers to accept Canadian beef.
Facing more than $2-billion in national cattle industry loses and dwindling international markets, Edmonton MP David Kilgour says allowing private companies to test all of their own beef will prevent Canada from permanently losing its top international customers and help revamp the image of Canadian beef.
"Private testing will let Canada reclaim its position as a top international beef exporter before we lose all our long-time markets to counties like Australia, who have not yet faced mad cow problems," said Kilgour, a federal expert on the cattle industry.
Japan, Korea and a host of other nations have refused to accept Canadian beef unless it is tested for mad cow. Japan spent $21 million and South Korea $470,000 on Canadian beef annually before the disease's discovery.
Both counties, as well as Germany, have already sent letters indicating they will reopen their borders to co-op products if its proposed $4.2-million slaughterhouse is allowed to do the testing and is built to European Union standards, said Tender Beef Co-op officials.
The federal government has agreed to spend $92.1 million over the next five years to increase the number of slaughtered cattle tested for mad cow annually from the current 5,500 to 30,000, but thus far it has not been enough to convince top international customers to accept Canadian beef.
Facing more than $2-billion in national cattle industry loses and dwindling international markets, Edmonton MP David Kilgour says allowing private companies to test all of their own beef will prevent Canada from permanently losing its top international customers and help revamp the image of Canadian beef.
"Private testing will let Canada reclaim its position as a top international beef exporter before we lose all our long-time markets to counties like Australia, who have not yet faced mad cow problems," said Kilgour, a federal expert on the cattle industry.
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