Canadian Beef Exports to Asia Suspended Due to Atypical Mad Cow Disease

China , South Korea and the Philippines have temporarily suspended beef imports from Canada. Three Asian countries have decided to suspend beef imports from Canada due to a case of atypical mad cow disease that was reported last month.

The Canadian Cattlemen's Association confirmed this week that China, which imports about $170 million worth of Canadian beef annually, has stopped importing beef from Canada after the discovery of SARS on an Alberta farm last month.

South Korea, which brings in about $90 million a year to the Canadian meat industry, and the Philippines, which imports about $13 million worth of Canadian beef annually, have also suspended imports. “I wouldn't say it's amazing, although we hoped it wouldn't happen. We hope supply restrictions will be very short in duration, but we are dealing with a foreign regulator, in different time zones and in different countries, so it is difficult to make unambiguous forecasts,” explains Dennis Leicraft, Executive Director of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, words quoted by Global News.

A case of atypical mad cow disease was reported in December at a livestock farm in Alberta, the first case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in six years. In September, China suspended Brazilian beef imports for three months for the same reason. The discovery of the disease is not expected to negatively impact Canada's status as a "negligible TGE risk" country, as defined by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).