By Tanya Cronin

BC Cattlemen’s celebrates Mexico reopening beef market

Jun 29, 2016 | 4:37 PM

KAMLOOPS — Mexico will fully re-open its market to Canadian beef imports this fall, meaning Canada’s farmers will have valuable new customers for their mature cattle. 

After BSE was detected in 2003, Mexico was among dozens of countries that suspended beef trade deals with Canada. While imports of some products resumed, cattle and meat from animals over 30 months of age were still restricted. The BC Cattlemen’s Association says the resumption of full-trade, opens up a big market.

“Prior to BSE in 2003, we were shipping somewhere in the neighbourhood of 237,000 tons there a year, since then we’ve averaged 23,000 tons, so we’re sending about 10% of what we were prior to, so having that open and that access, opens that market,” says Kevin Boon, General Manager of The BC Cattlemen’s Association.

Mexico is considered a high-valued market for certain beef products, and the re-opening has been a priority. The BC Cattlemen’s says it builds confidence, and sends a strong signal to other potential customers around the world.
  
“If our trading partners are accepting, especially close ones like Mexico and the US, that gives confidence to the other ones that our product is safe,” says Boon. 

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