EU beef sector hopes for end of Canada BSE ban
EU trade commissioner Karel De Gucht told the European Parliament last week that the EU and Canada had completed their Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which will be unveiled on Friday in Ottawa.
De Gucht claimed to MEPs that “EU operators will get a better treatment than that received by US competitors”. And Jean-Luc Mériaux, secretary general of the European Livestock and Meat Trading Union (UECBV), predicted that “before a final agreement has been reached, Canada will comply with the World Animal Health Organization (OIE) recommendation with regard to the BSE ban on EU meat products”.
The CETA agreement was actually announced last October, but disagreements over the detail of EU access to the Canadian dairy market and Canada’s access to the EU meat market have delayed drafting a final text.
Canada has banned all imports of European beef since BSE was first discovered in EU meat imports in the 1990s, a sticking point for the deal that still needs to be resolved.
“We are certainly supportive of Canada removing that ban,” John Masswohl, director of government and international relations at the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association told globalmeatnews.com. “The 28 member countries of the European Union, they’re all either BSE-controlled risk or negligible risk, and that’s the same status we have in Canada. So essentially what they’re asking for is to be treated the way that we have been asking to be treated.”
The deal, which will remove nearly 94% of agricultural tariffs for Canadian products, has been celebrated by Canadian beef and pork producers because it will allow them greater access to the lucrative European market. The final negotiations have established quota amounts for Canadian tariff-free meat products, including 80,549 tonnes (t) of pork, 50,000t of beef (35,000 fresh/chilled and 15,000 frozen/other), and 3,000t of bison per year, a spokesperson for the department of foreign affairs, trade and development (DFATD) Canada confirms.
“This is a significant improvement over the pre-CETA market access for Canadian beef and pork exporters. Previously, the EU market was largely closed to Canadian beef and pork,” said François Lasalle, a spokesperson for DFTAD.
However, Ron Davidson, the director of government and media relations at the Canadian Meat Council, and Masswohl both agree that Canadian pork and beef producers still need answers about the technical components of the agreement to align animal raising and processing with European standards.
“With what we’re gaining, in order to take advantage of it, it’s very important that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and its counterpart in the European Union resolve any of those outstanding issues,” Davidson said. “And we hope they get resolved well before the implementation date comes, because we need time to have the system set up to provide a parallel source of animals to go to Europe.”
Masswohl stressed the EU had yet to “recognise Canada’s federal meat inspection system, and has not approved our packing plants where those animals get transformed into meat”.
“We have very few plants which are currently certified or approved to export to the European Union. It hasn’t been a big market in the past, so it hasn’t been a priority,” agreed Davidson.
For example, Davidson said Canadian meat processors use hot water carcase washes, while the process is not approved in European plants. Another point of contention is the use of growth hormones in raising Canadian beef cattle, which is not approved in the EU – a position that will not change following the agreement.
