CCA meets with American, Mexican counterparts to discuss trade, biosecurity

A joint statement was signed between Canadian, American, and Mexican cattle organizations to better synchronize the industry across North America.

The Canadian Cattlemen's Association met their counterparts as part of a meeting last week, discussing some of the best business practices among them.

CCA President Nathan Phinney says that the meeting resulted in some good conversation.

"Really, what it boils down to is the last year we really started to build off of our position of the North America science and rules base bottle that we use for our production systems, our food safety systems, that's the nuts and bolts. We're basically telling the rest of the world that what we do here is world-leading and we're always going to follow science and research and that's what policy regulation, trade, everything needs to be built off of."

Phinney says there were some issues that required a bit of talking out between partners.

"The voluntary labeling part of the US came up, obviously with Mexico and Canada. We weren't very happy when the announcement happened that that was coming in place and you know, we're really starting to dig in and look at the CUSMA review coming up in 2026 and a lot of issues like volunteer product in the US, the Senate Bill C-282 here. You know, some of these things could potentially stall or hinder the review of that deal in 2026 when it's up to review."

later in the year, the three groups will meet again with a focus on biosecurity.

"We have three countries that are recognized FMD-free and obviously we're doing everything that we can to ensure the safety of our herds stays that way. You know there was the HPAI, the influenza that's been a little bit of an issue, but it was just another wake-up call. You know, to show how quickly things can happen and things that we may not see down the road."