He writes that an advisory committee has not met since 2015 and that at least one applicant for a supplementary import permit has been refused, so his imported beef is sitting in storage.
Charlebois recommends that the government's Bureau of Competition Policy investigate because it seems that two foreign meat-packing companies dominate the market and the import system - Cargill and JBS.
The tariff-rate quotas and the opportunity to obtain a supplementary import permit are designed to make the beef industry fair for everyone, including consumers.
It seems the government doesn't care that it's not working.
But there is an economic answer, which is that the cure for high prices is higher prices, and for low prices is lower prices. That has always worked for the Canadian beef industry, but that was before two foreign beef packers dominated the market.
