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Japan is lifting the last of its restrictions against Canadian beef, 20 years after the mad cow disease, devastated Canada’s cattle industry, reports the Canadian press.
The Canadian government says Japan is reopening its doors to processed beef and beef patties from Canada. This will put an end to the market access barriers Japan put in place in 2003, after a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease, was discovered in Alberta, said the report.
According to CBC reports Nathan Phinney, president of the Canadian Cattle Association said in a statement “cattle producers are grateful for the removal of trade barriers for processed beef in Japan, our second-largest export market for beef.”
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Government of Canada to further remove remaining trade barriers and expanding our trade capacity in the indo-pacific region.”
The federal government says Japan is now Canada’s second-largest market for beef, with exports worth $518 million in 2022 mostly due to Canada’s preferential access under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Initially, Japan shut its border to all Canadian beef but was lifting restrictions gradually over the years, most recently with its 2019 decision to begin accepting Canadian beef from cattle older than 30 months of age.
The Canadian Press reports that about 40 countries shut their borders to Canadian beef during the height of the 2003 BSE crisis, resulting in billions of dollars in losses for the beef industry.
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