Cattle in field - The Canadian Press

By The Canadian Press with files from Hayley Ferguson at CHAT News

Livestock industry holding breath over China meat ban

Jun 27, 2019 | 5:35 AM

OTTAWA — China’s sudden ban on Canadian beef and pork imports will create a huge financial loss for the sector that counts the Asian country among its top five international markets.

Chris White, president of the Canadian Meat Council, says the whole value chain will be impacted.

The Chinese Embassy said Tuesday it asked Canada to suspend all meat exports after Chinese customs inspectors detected residue from a feed additive that is restricted in China in a batch of Canadian pork products.

A subsequent investigation found forged veterinary health certificates attached to the batch.

So far this year, Canadian beef and pork exports to China had been experiencing a boon, which White says is partly because of Canadian meat’s world-class reputation.

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About 388 per cent more beef and veal was exported to China as of April 2019 compared with the same timeframe last year, and nearly 53 per cent more pork.

For some in the livestock industry, the outcome is still up in-the-air.

In Medicine Hat, those in the livestock industry think it’s too early to say what kind of impact the meat ban from China could have here.

“Initially it will be kind of a what if scenario. We won’t understand completely the financial ramifications for awhile.”Said James MacLean, vice-president of Porter & MacLean Livestock Management in Medicine Hat.

MacLean says that while China is a strong trading partner for Canadian agriculture across the board, they are not a huge partner for our beef.

According to the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, shipments of Canadian beef to China represented 2.6 per cent of the country’s total beef exports last year

McLean believes that the pork market will be impacted more.

He does say that the unknown can be stressful for the industry, who have already had a tough year.

“Physiologically this is not good for anybody in agriculture because we’ve already got the issue with that trading partner with canola and then the weather issues, either too much or too little rain,” he said.