There's no beef with age delay

CANADA - Increasing Canada's beef exports to major traders such as Japan and the U.S. won't be hobbled by Alberta's postponing a deadline for cattle age verification, the province's agriculture minister said yesterday.

27 September 2006

1 minute read

North America

Doug Horner said making the adoption of age verification more industry-led rather than government-driven and on a national scale could actually speed the process of reducing Japanese barriers to Canadian cattle.

"The process in improving traceability is still going ahead," said Horner, once again confronting an issue sparked by a 2003 discovery of mad cow disease in Alberta.

"The Japanese want a system that's audible and traceable with a trail they can follow. They want a national system."

Source: calsun.canoe.ca