Agri-giant Tyson Food Inc., the third largest buyer of Canadian cattle, will stop buying slaughter-ready Canadian cattle because of the cost of complying with U.S. meat labeling laws that are to go into effect in November. The announcement is a hard hit for Canadian feedlots and will likely lead to a drop in prices for producers. U.S. meat labeling laws now require labels on meat to contain detailed information on the origin of the meat and it also requires that meat from different countries be packaged separately. Tyson announced in an email that the company did not have the warehouse capacity to accommodate the expansion of separately packaged and labeled products. The U.S. first enacted meat labeling laws in 2008 and within a year Canadian cattle shipments to the U.S. were cut in half with a 58% drop in slaughter hog exports. After the World Trade Organization ruled against the U.S., the U.S announced amendments to the laws to go in to effect next month. A coalition of associations are appealing the ruling including the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, American Association of Meat Processors, American Meat Institute, Canadian Pork Council, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, National Pork Producers Council, North American Meat Association and the Southwest Meat Association. Earlier in 2013 Canada had announced possible retaliatory tariffs on cattle, pigs, beef, pork, chocolate, and some fruits and vegetables.
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