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Singapore Becomes First Country To Remove Remaining BSE Restrictions On Canadian Beef

Singapore has approved the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) certificate for the export of all beef, including beef offal, with no age restrictions.

This change in certificate makes Singapore the first country to remove the remaining Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) trade restrictions following the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) recognizing Canada as a BSE negligible risk country on May 27, 2021.

“While Singapore is not currently a large market for Canadian beef, CCA is pleased with the market access progress as diverse market access leads to trade resiliency and the highest overall value for Canadian farmers and ranchers,” said Bob Lowe, CCA President. “We are encouraged by Singapore’s change and hope others will follow soon.”

Previously, Singapore had approved all Canadian boneless beef and bone-in beef from animals under 30 months of age. Expanded types of beef and beef products from May 27, 2021 onwards will now be accepted for import into Singapore. Canadian beef exports to Singapore peaked in 2014 at 53.77 tonnes valued at $586,000. In 2019, exports were at 1.79 tonne and $31,000. No trade was reported in 2020 or the first half of 2021.

While most of Canada's trading partners had already approved all Canadian beef based on Canada's previous OIE BSE controlled risk status, several key trading partners such as China, Taiwan and South Korea have yet to approve all Canadian beef.

In partnership with the Government of Canada, CCA has been working to have all remaining BSE restrictions on Canadian beef exports removed.

Additionally, CCA is working to align the removal of Specified Risk Material (SRM) Removal with the U.S.

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Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.