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 Editorials | Environmental | April 2005 
Cuba Reopens Border to Canadian Cattle after Mad Cow Disease Scare
 Canadian Press
Havana - Cuba has reopened its border to live Canadian cattle, nearly two years after the Caribbean island country blocked such imports over a single case of mad cow disease discovered in Alberta.
Federal Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell made the announcement Thursday in Havana after meeting with Cuba's minister of agriculture, Alfredo Jordin Morales.
The move follows Cuba's decision Dec. 14 to reopen its border to a wide range of beef and beef products from Canadian cattle of any age, as well as pet food that does not contain ruminant meat or bone meal.
Canadian exporters will now have access to Cuba to ship live cattle, goats and sheep, meat from these animals, as well as bovine semen and embryos.
A cow with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was discovered on a northern Alberta farm in May 2003. International borders were subsequently closed to Canadian cattle and, since then, herds have swollen to record numbers and Canada's beef industry has lost more than $7 billion.
The United States was scheduled to open its border to young Canadian cattle earlier this month, but an injunction in a Montana court by a group of U.S. ranchers prevented that from happening. One American official recently warned it could be 18 months before the U.S. border is again opened to live Canadian cattle.
"This is another important step for the Canadian cattle industry as yet another country has reopened its markets to Canadian cattle based on science," Mitchell said from Havana.
He said similar agreements were recently approved by Tunisia, a new market for Canadian cattle, and by Lebanon.
"Now that Canada has achieved important progress in opening these three new markets, we will continue to work towards realizing similar export agreements with other countries."
Mexico has indicated it will begin a regulatory process that will eventually lead to the opening of its border to live Canadian cattle. |
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