Alberta is legendary for its beef, however a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) — generally often known as mad cow illness — discovered final month within the province has led to import bans from China, South Korea and the Philippines.
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Canadian beef imports halted by China over atypical mad cow illness
The choice has some within the trade involved.
“Anytime we lose markets for beef in Alberta, or Canada as an entire, it positively causes some concern,” mentioned Kevin Serfas.
Serfas owns a feed lot, Serfas Farms Ltd., exterior of Turin, Alta., positioned northeast of Lethbridge.
“Anytime you hear BSE, it doesn’t matter what sort it’s, it catches everybody’s curiosity,” Serfas added.
China is the most important of the three beef markets and represents about 5 per cent of Canada’s $400-billion exports.
Its ban on Brazilian beef final 12 months for the same case lasted three months.
“Any disruption isn’t good. There may be an quantity of meat that’s shifting to those locations with the bans and it’ll create chaos within the brief time period. However I’m assured this can get labored via, hopefully briefly time,” mentioned Serfas.
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Uncommon case of atypical mad cow illness reported in Alberta
There’s about two to 3 instances like this all over the world annually, however that is Canada’s first in six years, based on Canadian Cattlemen’s Affiliation govt vp Dennis Laycraft.
“In a case like this, the animal was discovered on a farm. The stays have been contained and incinerated, so there’s no hazard to meals or feed. It’s type of an open-and-shut case,” mentioned Laycraft.
Whereas Laycraft assume there’s no motive for these commerce restrictions, he says some nations are further cautious and wish further data earlier than opening imports.
In an announcement, the Canadian Meals Inspection Company (CFIA) confirms the case of atypical BSE was present in December 2021, and the animal was euthanized on the farm and didn’t enter the meals or animal feed chain.
“Canada has proactively engaged with buying and selling companions to supply details about this detection and preserve confidence in Canada’s safeguards in opposition to BSE,” the assertion reads.
“Just a few buying and selling companions (South Korea, Philippines and China) have requested Canada for extra details about the atypical BSE case and have both briefly suspended imports from Canada or requested that Canada not certify exports for his or her market pending evaluate of that data. A response with data on Canada’s BSE safeguards was offered to buying and selling companions.”
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