Cattle graze among a rugged landscape of southern Alberta that borders the state of Montana, on Jan. 18.Todd Korol/Reuters
Canada’s new Agriculture Minister is proposing several reforms to make the country’s food producers more resilient against U.S. tariffs, including faster approval for livestock feed ingredients, moving beyond outdated mad cow regulations, and rethinking labelling for fruits and vegetables.
Kody Blois announced the measures, which included a list of changes for Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), on Tuesday, two weeks before U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping 25-per-cent tariffs on all Canadian goods are set to become effective.
But Mr. Blois said the changes, proposed ahead of a federal election, are also meant to signal a broader strategy for Canadian food production.
“Enabling a competitive advantage and level playing field for Canadian agricultural products are among my top priorities,” he said in the announcement.
Food producers and agricultural experts have long sought a more efficient food safety apparatus, and they’re hoping this trade crisis, new Liberal leadership and changes to some food safety regulations will be the start of a new chapter.
Over all, the announced reforms are not “sea changes in the competitive nature of Canadian industry,” said Michael von Massow, an agricultural economist at the University of Guelph.
Many of the proposed measures focus on giving a little more cash to producers navigating disruptions in trade with the U.S., he said. For example, they include changes to when cattle could be slaughtered (increasing the maximum slaughter age for feeder calves from 36 to 40 weeks) which would increase weights, boost market prices and fatten profits somewhat for a sector that is very dependent on trade with the U.S.
However, while they might be small in scope, the announced measures do include some movements on long-fought battles, Prof. von Massow said.
For example, a significant chunk of the proposals focused on streamlining approvals for livestock feed and harmonizing approvals with the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
This extends to cattle feed restrictions currently in place because of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a fatal brain illness for cattle also known as mad cow disease. Scientists believe BSE came from feeding cows animal meal infected with prions, an infectious protein.
The resulting measures to restrict cattle feed options have been in effect since 1997, since the outbreak devastated beef industries across the world, most acutely Britain.
However, they have been unnecessary for a long time, said Kevin Boon, general manager at the BC Cattlemen’s Association. In 2021, the World Organization for Animal Health recognized Canada as a country with negligible risk for BSE. The continued restrictions – much more stringent than the U.S. – make Canada’s sector less competitive, he said.
“It makes no sense to have different lists,” he said. “Our meat goes back and forth across the border seamlessly. Why wouldn’t it be harmonized?”
The CFIA will also look into streamlining labelling and the grading system within the fresh fruit and vegetable industry, which is a continuing battle, said Richard Lee, executive director of the Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers.
In particular, modernization of fruit and vegetable grading – rating the product based on features such as shape, size and quality – has long been falling behind fast paced greenhouse technology (which can grow different sizes of various products). Furthermore, it is not harmonized with the U.S. – a market that accounts for over 80 per cent of Canada’s greenhouse vegetable sales.
It is leading to food waste for products that don’t meet specifications and leads to trade complications, Mr. Lee said, so the proposed changes are therefore a step in the right direction.
However, both Mr. Lee and Mr. Boon said that on the whole, the announced measures are small in scope, lack details and are just the start of the kinds of changes needed
For fruits and vegetables, further measures such as the harmonization of invasive species and pest management with the United States are needed, Mr. Lee said: “Canada is not an island, and yet we continue to have these policies that treat us like one.”
And for cattle, Mr. Boon wants to see further examination of the decades-old regulations that came from BSE. In Canada, cow parts such as the brain, spinal cord and eyes (which more likely to contain infectious agents) cannot be sold and processors must pay to have them disposed. These parts must also be removed in the U.S., but they can be sold for inedible purposes.
These rules are an added cost for the Canadian industry and makes it less competitive, said Mr. Boon, who would like to see Canada use the current trade dispute as an opportunity to push further: “Let’s not waste a good crisis … Let’s work on what’s out there that we can fix.”
However, there is cause to believe this is what is happening, and these announced measures are just the start, Prof. von Massow said. The value of the proposed reforms is not so much the actual policy changes, he said, as a federal election is expected soon.
Instead, Tuesday’s announcement – less than five days after Mr. Blois took office – is indicative of the Agriculture Minister’s priorities coming into the new role, Prof. von Massow said.
“This is a signal that there’s more to come … a signal that we’re going to try to be good at what we’re good at,” he said.