Limited Canadian beef exports will now be reaching an Asian shore that has banned beef imports from Canada since the outbreak of BSE in Canadian beef in 2003.
Last month, South Korea announced it was rescinding its ban on Canadian beef imports under 30 months of age. Before 2003, South Korea represented Canada’s fourth largest beef export market.
“Step by step, we’re opening, re-opening and expanding markets for our beef producers and processors,” said federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, speaking recently at a press conference in Spruce Grove. “We’ve more than doubled our beef exports to Hong Kong, the first Asian country to open to Canadian beef since 2003. We’ve more than tripled our beef exports to Russia, we reached an agreement on beef and allow access with China, and look forward to continuing to supply that market. Just recently we welcomed the news that Japan is taking steps that could lead to improved access for beef imports from several countries, including Canada.”
In recent years, South Korea has remained the most ridgidly opposed of Canada’s Asian trade partners and has consistently refused to repeal import restrictions on Canadian beef and beef products, despite accepted scientific evidence proving Canadian beef is now safe.
“Regrettably, since BSE hit in 2003, South Korea had banned Canadian beef imports despite international science that underscored that Canadian beef is safe,” said Ritz. “South Korea has been the last major beef customer in Asia to maintain a ban on our world-class Canadian beef. Almost a decade later and after four years of personally working with industry on this file, I’m pleased to report that our efforts have not been in vain. The government of South Korea has notified us that all certification conditions are in place, and that Canadian beef under 30 months of age can be exported immediatly from our accredited facilities here in Canada. This announcement is a big step forward for Canada’s beef producers and processors.”
International Trade Minister Ed Fast, speaking at the same press conference, explained South Korea had been facing mounting pressure from the WTO over import bans on international beef.
“As everyone knows, the road to today’s good news for Canada’s beef exporters has been a long one, to say the least. After years of emphasizing that there was no scientific basis to the ban on Canadian beef, our government stood up for Canadian producers by initiating a WTO panel to rule on South Korea’s trade restrictive measures. We were always confident of our case, and yes, our efforts paid off. In June 2011, a process to restore access to Canadian beef under 30 months was established between Canada and South Korea.”
Rather than allowing the situation to deteriorate into a formal trade dispute, Fast had recently urged South Korean diplomats and negotiators to seek a different resolution to the issue.
“Despite this progress, fully restored access remained far from certain. That is why this past December at the WTO ministerial meetings in Geneva, I once again raised this issue with my South Korean counterpart, urging him to recognize the scientific facts that confirm the high quality and safe nature of Canadian beef, and beef products. I also urged him to use a collaborative approach to resolve this dispute, rather than a more adversarial context of seeking a formal WTO ruling on this matter. And the Korean government heard our message, and their decision to restore access is a direct result of our efforts.”
Industry analysts estimate this limited repeal of South Korea’s import ban on Canadian beef could potentially represent $30 million in business annually, according to Fast.
“After eight long years, South Korea is the last of Canada’s major beef customers in Asia to restore access to our world-class Canadian beef. So what does this mean for our producers? We know that demand for Canada’s beef in Korea is very high, as it is across Asia. The industry estimates that annual sales to Korea could reach $30 million by 2015. For beef producers, and the communities that rely on them, that’s very significant. And of course we expect those markets to grow. We want the benefits of this trade in beef to flow quickly to Canada’s economy. But we’ve still got lots of work to to, securing full access to South Korea for all of Canada’s beef products.”
The news from South Korea means even more in Alberta, which has more beef cattle than any other province and depends on export markets to maintain viability.
“The South Korean market is the last major Asian market to remove its ban on Canadian beef, so this is exciting news for Alberta producers,” said provincial Agriculture Minister Evan Berger, in a statement following the press conference, in which he outlined the importance of cattle to Alberta’s overall economy. “In 2002, Alberta exported $42.6 million in beef to South Korea. Alberta is the largest cattle-producing province in Canada. It led the nation in cattle and calf inventories, with an estimated 4.95 million head as of Jan. 1, 2011, or nearly 40 per cent of the national total. Nearly three-quarters of Canadian beef processing occurs in Alberta.”