Cattle sector weighs in on new traceability regs

It’s 2003, and a crisis is descending on the Canadian cattle herd. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has just been found in a black Angus cow in Alberta.

Chaos follows: borders slam shut and the government pledges millions in aid. The border to the United States will remain shuttered until 2005, when it opens for young cattle. Older cattle won’t cross the border until 2007.

The task to reopen borders, overcome trade barriers and reinstate trust in the beef industry was a monumental job that has stuck with many people in the industry, even 20 years later. Now, it’s imperative to everyone that nothing like that happens again.

This is where traceability comes into play.

According to the government of Canada, “Cattle identification directly contributes to traceability in BSE investigations and thus to the control of BSE in the Canadian cattle herd. This component also contributes to the control of other diseases by enhancing the traceability of animals.”

However, not all industry organizations agree with all the regulations put forward throughout the 20-plus years of traceability.

Livestock Markets Association of Canada

It’s May 2023 in Olds, Alta., and producers and professionals from across the country fill a conference room in the Pomeroy Hotel, on the Olds College campus. Rick Wright, CEO of the Livestock Markets Association of Canada, stands at the front of the room and talks about the association’s current perspective on proposed changes to traceability regulations. After years of traceability changing, this isn’t a new conversation at the association’s conventions.

“I know you guys all say, ‘Rick, you guys have talked traceability until we’re blue in the face here and we’ve been doing it for 15 years.’ But it’s here, this is the start of what’s happening,” Wright says at the conference. “So it’s not going away people, it’s coming.”

Partway through, he convinces Anne Brunet-Burgess, general manager of the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency, to sit on the stage with him and provide her input from the agency’s perspective.

“We’ve talked about this for a long time, so this is not a surprise. Of course, there’s some details that are surprising, but the overall concept has been in the works for many, many years,” she says.

Tag dealers

When asked about the proposed changes to traceability, Wright sees some positives. However, he has concerns with suggested restrictions around who can sell RFID tags. The proposed change would mean that only designated “tag dealers” could sell tags. Tag dealers also would have to keep track of their information and then send it to the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency.

Anne Brunet-Burgess has concerns regarding tag dealers as well.

“Buying tags is an asset, just like any other commodities a producer would have,” she says. “And if they’re no longer needing them … they should have the ability to sell them like any other asset. In the proposed regs, they would take that ability away from the producer, so you’d have to be a tag dealer in order to sell. So, we’re saying, with the proper paperwork to change the ownership of the tags, there should be no trouble at all.”

Reporting group movement

Reporting animal movement is one aspect of the new traceability proposals Wright says is a win.

Now, with the proposed changes, livestock markets would only have to report group movement, as opposed to reporting individual tag numbers upon arrival. Move-out information will not have to be reported.

“We have been able to get group movement reporting coming in,” Wright says. “And that was a great compromise for the CFIA and for the government, and we appreciate the fact they did listen to the recommendations.”

However, Wright wants to ensure they are doing what they must, while staying in their lane.

“We’ve told them all along that we will do passive reporting of what is sent to us at the intermediate sites and what is at the markets,” Wright says. “And we’ll send that in but we’re not their enforcement agency. We’re not the policemen and we’re not going to run out and have to track all that information down.”

Reporting is still a concern for the individual producer, who would have to report move-in information when they purchase cattle such as bred cows, stockers and feeders that are delivered to operations that are not intermediate sites.

The Livestock Market Association of Canada has said smaller operators won’t be able to handle scanning individual cattle that come to their farms because they don’t have the equipment.

Brunet-Burgess also has concerns regarding this.

“For a primary producer, again if they don’t buy anything but maybe the odd bull or the odd load of replacement heifers, the reporting impact is less but there nonetheless,” Brunet-Burgess says. “So all these regulated parties will have to report something if they are receiving livestock. And currently, there’s nothing so it’s from zero to a hundred because there’s no in-between.”

Tracking information

The proposed changes would require a more active role in tracking information, increasing the workload for the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency.

According to Wright, the proposal for tracking information isn’t specific enough, leaving a lot of wiggle room for how people submit their data. He says that reporting needs to be streamlined for the agency.

“Realistically, right now, the way the proposal stands is that the administrators … they have to receive it. If I put it on the back of the cigarette package and pop it in the mail, they have to receive that. And that’s not efficient.”

Brunet-Burgess also has concerns with the amount of stress and unnecessary work it will pile onto the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency.

“Regulated parties are not prescribed to reporting in any particular way. So they can report electronically, they can report via a management software, but they could also report on paper. So if it comes on paper it requires a … resource of some sort on our part and that’s where the impact is.”

Cost

In addition to these issues, the Livestock Market Association of Canada is concerned with the cost-benefit ratio. Wright says the proposed changes make things more expensive for the industry.

“Cost-benefit ratio has been grossly underestimated. The cost of this program is going to be considerably more than what they have, and that industry is going to get saddled with the cost,” he says. “If it is for the public good, then the government should pay for that.”

Ryder Lee, general manager of the Canadian Cattle Association (CCA), says currently, 80 per cent of the cost would fall on the cattle sector.

“What we’d like is some programming to be in place prior to going to Gazette to help with getting to compliance,” Lee says.

Waiting game

The comment period for the proposed changes to traceability ended in June 2023. Following that period, the Livestock Market Association of Canada, Canadian Cattle Identification Agency and CCA were waiting to see what would come after Canadian Food Inspection Agency looked through all of the comments.

“We hope to see our comments taken into account. There definitely needs to be partnership with industry to get us from where we are today and our current traceability system to where we will be in the future under this new one,” Lee says, adding he hopes to see “a good traceability system” that “isn’t overly complicated or overly costly for cattle producers.”

According to the Livestock Market Association of Canada ’s 2023 annual report from May, the proposed changes will be published in the Canada Gazette Part II in 2024. The proposals will become law and there will be a year of soft enforcement for implementation. However, both the CCA and the Livestock Market Association of Canada are recommending two years of soft enforcement.

Melissa Jeffers-Bezan is a field editor for Canadian Cattlemen and a graduate of the University of Regina School of Journalism. She grew up on a commercial cattle farm in western Manitoba, and previously worked for the Western Producer. She is based out of Regina, Sask.