Canadian shepherds fear that
the United States will retain its Country-of-Origin labeling restrictions for
sheep when they scrap them for cattle and hogs.
The American Sheep Industry
has apparently successfully lobbied to have politicians keep the COOL
regulations for them.
Ray Baynton of CKNX radio and
television in Wingham spoke with Canadian Sheep Federation vice-chairman Rob
Scott who says the industry estimates it has lost up to about $300 million
dollars since 2003 because of trade problems with the U.S.
A cow that died of Bovine
Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE, or mad cow’s disease) in Alberta that year
prompted the U.S. to ban all sheep and cattle from Canada.
Then came Country of Origin
Labeling which makes it expensive for U.S. packing plants to buy Canadian sheep
because they must be processed separately for accurate labelling.
Scott recently met with
Bruce-Grey Conservative MP Larry Miller in Ottawa to discuss the situation.
He says it’s been a great
lesson for the sheep industry, showing the sector needs to increase its profile
with the public and with government, reports Baynton.
The Federation has started a
letter-writing campaign to make the government aware of its concerns over COOL.
According to Scott, the sector
has gone from a cottage industry to a commodity with a large potential for
growth over the past 15 years.
But he argues they need access
to the U-S as an alternative market to continue to foster that growth.
