positive signs......

[Maple Leaf Angus]

Check out the story.

Get behind this initiative with your support, Canadian cattlemen and women, and work for action, not just words. It is not just our present livelihood, it is a future for our industry and kids.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/03/28/cattle050328.html

 

[Bill]

Check out the story.

Get behind this initiative with your support, Canadian cattlemen and women, and work for action, not just words. It is not just our present livelihood, it is a future for our industry and kids.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/03/28/cattle050328.html

It looks like CCA MAY be finally listening. A major re-shuffling is still needed within that org and CFIA.

 

[Broke Cowboy]

Industry pushes for made-in-Canada solution to cattle crisis
Last Updated Mon, 28 Mar 2005 09:33:37 EST

CBC News

OTTAWA - The Canadian Cattlemen's Association says it is time the beef industry stepped up efforts to develop a made-in Canada solution to the current crisis.

Association members met in Ottawa last week to develop a contingency plan which calls for a variety of measures ranging from more testing to better tax incentives.

Brad Wildeman, who chairs the contingency committee for the Cattlemen's Association, says it's clear Canada needs more slaughtering plants. He says the association is hoping to convince various levels of government to come out with a tax credit program.

"So that it will reduce their risk and make it easier for these plants to get equity. And once they get it put themselves in a lot better financial position," he said.

Wildeman says the association believes Canada needs to become more aggressive in developing new markets, even if that means doing more testing for specific markets like Japan.

"If we could sell more product in there by testing cattle over 21 months. And if that's available and if there's companies that want to do that to access that market that they should be allowed to do that."

Wildeman says it would not be universal testing, just targeted testing. "It's a way to send a message to the U.S. and producers down there that we're not going away and that we're prepared to do whatever it takes to allow our industry to continue to grow and survive."

Wildeman says they would also like to see some of the current government programs extended until the U.S. border re-opens.

 

[Maple Leaf Angus]

It looks like CCA MAY be finally listening. A major re-shuffling is still needed within that org and CFIA.

Bill - What are your suggestions? Anything concrete? Nothing happens w/o a lot of positive pressure. Too many Gov. solutions are just a dose of gripe water.

 

[Bill]

It looks like CCA MAY be finally listening. A major re-shuffling is still needed within that org and CFIA.

Bill - What are your suggestions? Anything concrete? Nothing happens w/o a lot of positive pressure. Too many Gov. solutions are just a dose of gripe water.

-Start by changing CCA management and a reshuffling of the executive would be a start. (Doesn't appear to be much will for that too happen.)
-Push CFIA to fast track past a lot of the red tape and BS current proposed plants are encountering including why meat can not be transported between provinces from provincially inspected plants.
-Implement VOLUNTARY testing of animals over 21 months as Mr. Wildeman suggests and do it soon.
-Get over the fear of US retaliation regarding gov't money being paid to Canadian producers to weather this crisis.
-Create incentives for the Canadian packing industry to expand beyond the major packers in order to reduce the monopoly they hold.

CCA is definitely humming a different tune than two months ago. Let's hope they learn the whole song.

 

[Bill]

Canadian Cattlemen's Association Announces Action Plan Priorities -

Seek Immediate Initiation of Dispute Settlement Proceedings

(March 28, 2005) The Canadian Cattlemen's Association has approved a set of priority actions to ensure the immediate survival of producers and long term strength of the Canadian cattle and beef industry. Amongst the priorities are actions to increase slaughter capacity, increase access to international markets, extend set-aside programs and expedite age verification systems.

"Canadian cattle producers are determined to regain control of their destiny," said CCA President Stan Eby. "We are positioning the industry to deal with whatever circumstances present themselves".

The central objective of the action plan is to ensure that Canadians have options to market live cattle and beef at profitable prices. The industry must process more cattle in Canada as well as pursue legal action to regain access to U.S. facilities. The CCA has already sought intervener status in the U.S. District Court in Montana, where a small group of U.S. producers is seeking to permanently prevent USDA from resuming cattle and beef trade with Canada. The action plan requests the Government of Canada to take a further step by immediately initiating dispute settlement proceedings under trade agreements.

"Despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture and President Bush agreeing that trade in cattle should be resumed, the matter has been frustrated by other U.S. entities that want the border to remain closed" remarked Eby. "We believe that initiating formal consultations under the North American Free Trade Agreement will provide a further avenue to demonstrate why resuming trade is in the U.S. best interest".

The Action Plan was approved by the CCA during its Annual General Meeting which took place in Ottawa, March 22 - 24. Other highlights of the plan include seeking changes to the Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization (CAIS) program, development of an emergency cattle harvest strategy and elimination of supplemental beef imports.

Also at the Annual General Meeting, Stan Eby of Kincardine, Ontario was re-elected to a second one-year term as President and Hugh Lynch-Staunton of Lundbreck, Alberta was re-elected as Vice-President.





BSE ACTION PLAN PRIORITIES

Realizing that the development of a comprehensive strategy is difficult given the uncertainty of future events, it is important to develop a set of immediate recommendations to governments and producers. This process can begin while the final comprehensive contingency plan is developed to deal with the ongoing issues that the cattle industry is facing. Additionally, the strategies may need to be modified if events, unknown to the industry at this time, occur.

There are several actions that can be initiated immediately that will assist the industry regardless of these future events. For this reason, a set of action items and recommendations has been developed. Within the action plan, there are key recommendations that, if implemented, could have positive effects on other areas, or make these recommendations less time critical. For this reason it is prudent to prioritize some of the key items to provide clarity to the recommendation process.

Immediate Action Items

Actions to create increased slaughter capacity in the shortest time possible.
Actions that would protect and increase access to international markets.
Extension and enhancement of the set aside programs to provide stability to cattle prices.
Actions to fast track age verification within the CCIA system.


Critical Action Items

Implementation of changes to CAIS to provide access to income support.
Comprehensive evaluation of export certification, including BSE testing for market access.
Identification of new international markets that could be accessed through greater certification.


Important Action Items

Announcement of intention to eliminate supplementary import permits.
Commencement of trade dispute actions by the Federal Government.
Preparation of an emergency slaughter strategy that could be quickly implemented if necessary.