‘Good news:’ Sask. government welcomes Japan’s decision on Canadian beef

Saskatchewan’s government is excited at the prospect of a wider market to sell beef after Japan dropped the last of its restrictions on Canadian beef.

Last week, the Japanese government threw the doors wide open after 20 years of restrictions stemming from a case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as mad cow disease, in Alberta in 2003.

“(That) just gives another opportunity for cattle producers here to obviously sell their product through the supply chain, but just when somebody else wants your product, usually it brings the price up so that’s good news,” said David Marit, Saskatchewan’s agriculture minister.

He said it goes to show the work that’s been done on this file.

“With the (Saskatchewan trade) office in Japan and with the trade and export minister travelling there as well, I mean, this was an issue that we had been raising with them,” said Marit.

“We realize that Japan’s a very important market to us, on the livestock side but on grains as well, so they’re very important to us and it’s nice to see this and we build on those relationships.”

Marit couldn’t say how much this change might mean for Saskatchewan producers or Saskatchewan exports. He said the government will have to wait and see how the industry reacts to it and how Japan reacts to it.