Canadian ag minister reacts to EU beef ban
By Pro Farmer Editors 5/17/99 6:31:55 AM CST
Canada's Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Lyle Vanclief issued a strongly worded statement criticizing the European Union's (EU) continued unwillingness to meet its international obligations regarding its long-standing ban on Canadian beef produced with growth hormones.
The full text of Minister Vanclief's press release, based on a speech to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, follows:
The Government of Canada believes that a recent document published by the European Union (EU) demonstrates its continued unwillingness to meet its international obligations regarding its long-standing ban on Canadian beef.
"The World Trade Organization (WTO) has made it clear, twice, that the EU ban on beef produced with growth hormones is not based on science," said Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lyle Vanclief. "We can only conclude that these recent EU actions are an attempt to avoid fulfilling its international trade obligations."
"It is very unfortunate that the EU continues to use scare-mongering and misinformation to avoid living up to their responsibilities under the WTO," said Minister Vanclief. "We stand firmly behind our Canadian beef industry and will turn up the pressure on the EU to live up to their obligations and allow Canadian beef, which is of the highest quality in the world, into their markets."
In early May, a scientific committee of the EU issued a summary of a report that raised unfounded questions about the safety of growth hormones used in beef production. The WTO has twice rejected these same arguments, and concluded that the EU ban was not based on scientific evidence. The full EU report has not been made available for scrutiny.
Canada conducted reviews of the growth-promoting hormones used in beef production and found them to be safe when used in accordance with good practices in the use of veterinary drugs. This is also the conclusion of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international body that establishes food standards to protect the health of consumers and to ensure fair practices in the food trade.
The EU banned hormone-treated beef in 1989. Both Canada and the United States requested WTO dispute settlement panels in 1996.
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