winnipeg / reuters / Canada and the U.S. have agreed to maintain livestock and meat trade during animal disease outbreaks using a new system that targets trade bans more precisely by region.
The new system, which won’t take effect until after consultation with industry groups and details are worked out, would prevent a full border ban that happened during the BSE outbreak. Instead, each country would only restrict trade within designated disease-control zones where the animal disease breaks out.
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If it had been in place in 2003, the U.S. would likely only have restricted imports of beef from Western Canada, not the entire country, said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz.
“This is a sensible approach,” he said, adding the “choke point” between the two zones would be at the inspection station at West Hawk Lake.
Brazil’s poultry exports to rebound
sao paulo / reuters / Brazil’s chicken meat exports should increase by about three per cent this year after falling in 2012 due to high feed costs, says the country’s poultry association.
The association expects better demand from countries in Asia and Africa and a greater emphasis on processed foods to raise the value of sales and to compensate for high grain prices in the past year in the world’s top chicken meat exporter.
“This year, we want to improve the quality of chicken meat and add value to exports,” said Francisco Turra, president of the Brazilian Poultry Union (Ubabef).
Brazil accounts for nearly 40 per cent of the world’s chicken exports.
