Canada's beef trading partners ban imports in wake of BSE scare

Food & Drink Weekly, June 2, 2003

The Chinese agriculture ministry last week announced a ban on imports of live cattle and beef from Canada, in response to concern about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (B SE) in Canadian cattle. It was the first case in North America in a decade, and only the second ever. Beef exporters in Australia, Chile, Indonesia, New Zealand, Russia and Singapore joining Japan, South Korea and the U.S. in banning imports of Canadian beef.

Two weeks ago news broke that a single case of BSE (mad cow disease) had been discovered in a cow in Alberta. Countries around the world have been reacting to the news in different ways, with many imposing import bans. Now China has joined their number, imposing a strict ban that includes derived products such as embryos and sperm from Canadian cattle.

The ban could be damaging, as last year China imported about $12 million in live cattle and frozen beef from Canada. No details have been published regarding the proposed duration of the ban, or the conditions under which it might be lifted.

Earlier last week Brazil also suspended imports of beef and certain derived products, although the ban does not extend to bull semen, milk or dairy products. In a statement that has frightened Canadian beef producers, representatives of farmers in Brazil said they would try to take the market share formerly enjoyed by Canada. "We must try to take the market share of Canada, the world's fourth largest beef exporter with 83% of its sales going to the United States," Antenor Nogueira, private sector manager of the Brazilian Beef Producers' Chamber said in a statement.

Meanwhile, parties implicated by the discovery are responding in different ways to protect their sales and reputations. In Louisiana, a check of inventories in restaurants and grocery stores appeared to reveal that there was no Canadian beef in the state. Louisiana appears to be the only state to have conducted such an inventory.

In Canada, cattle on three fanns in Alberta and Saskatchewan will be slaughtered, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed last week. A Canadian official has acknowledged that samples from a cow infected with BSE were held onto for four months, possibly allowing any other potentially infected cows into the food chain. Dr. Claude Lavigne, an official at Canada's animal products directorate, said officials were searching for any cows also infected with mad cow disease, as a precautionary measure.

Canadian veterinarians took samples from the sick cow on January 31, 2003 at a rendering plant. They suspected the cow had pneumonia, which led to a long delay in processing the samples. The samples were sent to the Edmonton laboratory on February 8, 2003. "They sat there until we had time to process them," Dr. Gerald Ollis, Canada's chief provincial veterinarian said.

Canadian officials said none of the infected animal went into the food supply. Although it appears to be an isolated case, officials are still investigating where the eight-year-old cow was born and any other cattle it may have been into contact with. BSE has an incubation period in a cow of up to eight years.