By TIM THORNBERRY
Kentucky Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Since 2003, beef exports from the U.S. and Canada have been banned by China after the discovery of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) commonly referred to as Mad Cow disease in both countries.

That changed last week, at least for Canada, as China announced it will resume imports of Canadian beef.

The question now, for the U.S. beef industry is whether the trend will carry over especially since both the U.S. and Canada hold the same “controlled risk” status for BSE, as listed by the World Animal Health Organization.

National Cattlemen’s Beef Assoc. (NCBA) President Steve Foglesong released a statement of his own after the announcement voicing his concern over the way the government has handled the dilemma concerning the ban against U.S. beef.

“China is thwarting us almost across the board on animal agriculture trade issues, while the level of U.S. engagement has been poor at best. Over the past three years, and two administrations, we’ve seen little progress in opening the Chinese market to U.S. beef. While the Administration has said this is a priority, they have failed to take action, despite the fact that China represents one of the largest potential growth markets for our industry, worth in excess of $200 million,” he said in the statement.
Foglesong continued by saying, “In addition, Congress’ attitude of ‘do as we say, not as we do,’ when it comes to science-based trade protocols – as we’ve seen in the case of the cooked poultry issue with China – is continuing to hurt our reputation with international trading partners. This is further hindering our ability to move forward on trade deals that could open up the doors for U.S. beef overseas. We’re now in the position of being outpaced and outhustled by competing nations, putting American jobs and market share at risk.”

The Chinese announcement came as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed that country’s commitment to strengthen relations with China following bilateral discussions with Hu Jintao, president of China, according to information from the prime minister’s office.

“The two leaders witnessed the signing of new initiatives and reiterated their intent to deepen the linkages between Canada and China,” the statement reported.

Harper said in a release that the agreement is a sign of a flourishing relationship between the two countries.

“This visit by President Hu confirms that the Canada-China strategic partnership is gaining momentum as we mark 40 years of diplomatic relations and chart a course for the future”, said Harper. “Today’s bilateral signings and the hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens visiting Canada’s Expo 2010 Pavilion in Shanghai are signs that relations between our countries are flourishing.”

The beef agreement is based on a staged approach, beginning with Canadian boneless beef derived from animals under thirty months of age (UTM) and beef tallow for industrial use, the statement continued.

USDA data places the value of U.S. beef exports to be nearly $3 billion based on 2008 statistics. Foglesong concluded his statement noting that with ninety-six percent of the world’s consumers living outside U.S. borders, it’s “absolutely critical that we expand our opportunities to sell beef in the international marketplace if we want to keep American family farms in business.”

The lift on the beef ban comes somewhat on the heels of China once again allowing pork exports from Canada following a ban due to H1N1 concerns.