The Canadian Cattlemen's Association (CCA) and its counterparts from the United States and Mexico have taken a united front in regards to the North American Free Trade Agreement. (NAFTA)  The three beef producer groups want to see NAFTA remain as is for beef producers.
    
Dan Darling, president of the CCA said the three organizations have all signed a letter addressed to the elected leaders of their respective countries outlining their position.  "Basically what it was saying was that for the beef sectors, NAFTA has worked exceptionally well, and our three organizations do not want to see changes made at all."

The letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada, U.S. President Donald Trump, and President Enrique Pena Nieto of Mexico was signed by Darling, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) President Craig Uden, and Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Ganaderas President Oswaldo Chazaro Montalvo.
    
Darling is confident the CCA will have the backing of the Canadian government in dealing with their concerns of impending NAFTA renegotiations.  "We've been in consultations with the Canadian government, Ag Minister (Lawrence) MacAulay, Minister (Chrystia) Freeland, and the prime minister as well, and they know our issues. They were certainly supporters of us in standing up to the U.S. on COOL, (Country of Origin Legislation) and we expect the same thing to happen with the NAFTA negotiations."

If NAFTA was renegotiated, Darling did say there are some things that could be improved. As an example, he said the inspection stations Canadian beef has to go through when they cross the border into the US., were never really supposed to be there when NAFTA was originally signed.  He said when U.S. product is processed in the U.S. and inspected, sealed and put in a truck and it comes to Canada, it is never re-inspected.  On the other hand, product from Canada,when the same thing happens and it goes over the border into the U.S., there's a great likelihood of it being re-inspected.  

Darling said he's heard numbers floating around indicating for every 10 loads of fresh beef or pork product that crosses the border, there's probably 1 of those 10 loads that are sent back to Canada.  He noted when those shipments are sent back to Canada, it's not because there's anything wrong with it, it's because inspections have taken too long that the shelf-life isn't going to be long enough to get the beef to where it's supposed to go.

The U.S. is Canada’s top export market, accounting for 70 percent of Canadian beef exports and nearly all our live cattle exports.