August 30, 2004

Canada To Compete For U.S. Beef Market Share

Canada will add new packing plants to directly challenge U.S. market share overseas. The country has been unable to export much of its beef to the United States for the last 15 months, Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell said on Saturday.

Mitchell's comments came after a meeting with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman in New York, where his U.S. counterpart told him more time was needed before the border could be reopened to Canadian beef.

"We will continue to work with (Canadian) industry to look to increase our slaughter capacity and develop foreign markets," Mitchell stated.

Prime Minister Paul Martin had earlier told U.S. business leaders in Idaho that if the United States did not quickly reopen its border to Canadian beef and cattle, Canada would massively expand its slaughter capacity, thereby creating a direct threat to U.S. processors and exporters.

"Our industry has been dealing with this for well over a year and now we're looking at a made-in-Canada solution," said Mitchell.

Nearly 30 countries had closed their borders to Canadian beef after a single case of mad cow disease was discovered on an Alberta farm in May 2003. Many of those countries have since partially relaxed their bans.

The United States relaxed its ban last September. However, despite pressure from Ottawa, a U.S. ban on the import of live Canadian cattle and many cuts of beef have remained in place. Officials in Washington have said those bans could remain through to 2006.