Australian ports re-open to our beef

EAGLE STAFF

Companies may now sell Canadian beef to Australian customers, over 20 years after the country closed its ports to the Canadian meat.

“In 2003, Australia imposed import restrictions on Canadian beef,” a federal statement noted. That occurred after a cow sick with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) reached an Alberta slaughterhouse.

Authorities reported the disease, also known as mad cow disease, in 24 mostly European countries after it first appeared in 1986 in Great Britain, according to a document on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website in the United States.

The World Organization of Animal Health officially recognized Canada as having negligible risk status for the disease in 2021, “underlining the integrity of our animal health and food inspection systems,” a late-July statement from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said. “Canada’s beef production system is recognized internationally as sound, safe and respected,” it added.

“Strengthening our trade ties with Australia - one of our key partners in the Indo-Pacific - means more opportunities for Canadian farmers and processors to grow their businesses, create good jobs and build up our economy,” Heath MacDonald, the agriculture minister, said in the statement.

“This regained access to the Australian market is a testament to the co-operation between the CFIA, the Canadian beef industry and our trading partners,” added Paul MacKinnon, the agency’s president. Firms sold Canadian beef worth $5.02 billion in 2023, up 7.4 per cent from $4.68 billion in 2022, a Beef Farmers of Ontario statement said.