Australia has lifted a 22-year-old ban on the import of Canadian beef and beef products, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

Canada says Australia has re-opened market access for beef and beef products

Scotland reports case of mad cow disease
The Scottish government on Friday confirmed a case of classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as mad cow disease, at a farm in the southwest of the country, the first British case of the disease in over two years.

Taiwan formally opens to OTM Canadian beef
BSE-era restriction now lifted
Taiwan has officially lifted its import ban on Canadian beef and beef products from animals over 30 months of age (OTMs). Canada’s Trade Minister Mary Ng and Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau announced the move Friday, saying Taiwan’s decision “will offer an opportunity to expand Canadian beef exports to Taiwan and diversify export markets in the […] Read more

Beef sector speaks out on costly processing rules
Producers, smaller processors bear the brunt of costs from BSE-era regulations
Reading Time: 4 minutes Alberta beef producers still feel the fallout from BSE through regulations intended for processors, though it is 20 years since the crisis began. Canadian beef processors pay millions more than their U.S. counterparts to process and dispose of specified risk material (SRM), first targeted during the BSE era, in cattle older than 30 months (OTM). […] Read more

Taiwan pledges full access for Canadian beef
Market to reopen in 'a couple weeks,' minister says
Canadian beef exporters can expect to regain full market access to Taiwan within the next couple of weeks, Canada’s international trade minister said Thursday. Posting on Twitter Thursday from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministers’ meeting in Detroit, Mary Ng said Taiwanese officials have confirmed the decision, which she hailed as “great news […] Read more

The 20th anniversary of BSE: So much has changed
Border closures captured the headlines but BSE reshaped the cattle sector in profound ways
Reading Time: 4 minutes The dates are seared in Dennis Laycraft’s brain. May 20, 2003, when the first positive test of a cow with BSE was confirmed; Aug. 10, 2003, when the U.S. and Mexico restored import access for Canadian boneless beef from animals under 30 months of age; July 14, 2005, when the U.S. reopened full access for […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures drop to contract lows on demand woes
CME cattle futures also lower
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures sank to contract lows on Monday, with the market under pressure from plentiful supplies and weak demand for pork at grocery stores and on the export market. “The story remains one of a slow-to-move product market,” brokerage StoneX said in a note to clients. Cattle futures […] Read more

U.S. reports case of atypical BSE
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Friday an atypical case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), in an older beef cow at a slaughter plant in South Carolina. USDA said the animal never entered slaughter channels and the agency did not expect any trade impacts as a result. It was […] Read more

Japan lifts last of BSE-era restrictions off Canadian beef
Canadian processed beef regains access to Japan
The last of Japan’s import restrictions on Canadian beef and beef products stemming from the BSE crisis has been lifted, allowing access for Canadian further-processed beef. Canada’s federal agriculture department announced Monday that Japan has reopened to imports of “processed” Canadian beef — just days ahead of a significant reduction in Japan’s tariffs on imports […] Read more

China agrees to resume imports of Brazilian beef
Beijing authorizes four new Brazilian plants
Beijing/Sao Paulo | Reuters –– Efforts by the Brazilian government to lift a month-long ban on beef exports to China paid off on Thursday, as Beijing agreed to resume imports while also approving four new beef packers based in Brazil, according to authorities in both countries. China’s General Administration of Customs approved the resumption of […] Read more