Cargill says it is operating full out, handling up to 4,500 cattle daily. It is the largest beef processing facility in Canada.

Brigitte Burgoyne, a spokeswoman for Cargill, says the company strives to exceed Canadian Food Inspection Agency standards for cleanliness.

“We work with the CFIA to ensure that we are adhering to their expected processes,” she said from Winnipeg. “Food safety – operating in a clean and safe environment – is our No. 1 concern.”

Union members who work at the XL Foods plant held a news conference to tell a different story about the company they work for.

Doug O’Halloran, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401, said the processing line at the plant operates too quickly for workers to keep it clean.

He said the plant uses too many temporary foreign workers and won’t work with the union to ensure they are properly trained.

The union also said the company won’t agree to whistleblower protection for workers who point out problems.

The CFIA on Oct. 23 lifted the license suspension that had closed the Brooks plant, permitting the facility to resume slaughter and processing under the condition of greater CFIA surveillance and testing protocols.

JBS USA announced an agreement on Oct. 18 that it would begin managing the XL Lakeside plant in Brooks. The deal also provides JBS the option to purchase the XL Foods operations in Canada and the U.S. for $50 million in cash and $50 million in JBS South America stock.

Brazil
Brazilian meatpacker Marfrig Group is at the center of a lawsuit that claims the Brazilian processing company paid off federal inspectors over the past six years.

The lawsuit was brought forward by the Public Ministry of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.

The suit, presented by federal prosecutor Fabiana da Costa Silva, names the city mayor, an administrative secretary and municipal employees, contending they gave “fraudulent payments” to inspectors.

Marfrig Group allegedly paid more than $3.5 million to federal inspectors – funneling the funds through the local government office – in order to obtain international sanitary certifications, Silva added.

The Department of Inspection of Animal Products (DIPOA), under the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, ruled in April 2006 that only federal inspectors could carry out plant visits.

The mayor’s office has caused much harm and losses through their illegal actions, Silva contended.

The Public Ministry seeks that Marfrig Group and the mayor’s office pay for both moral damages and civil penalties, in accordance to Brazilian law for administrative misconduct.

Argentina
JBS S.A.’s Argentine unit can now export thermally-processed beef to the U.S.

The decision comes after inspectors from the U.S. Food Safety Inspection (FSIS) visited JBS plants based in Argentina during the past year. FSIS banned such imports in October 2011 after finding errors in JBS Argentina’s production systems.

FSIS has demanded that all animals come from certified slaughterhouses/farms in order to guarantee their traceability and that all meat producers sign a statement guaranteeing food safety, the ministry said.

Among FSIS’s requirements were improvements to guarantee animal health and to reduce any presence of Listeria monocytogenes.

Mexico
Mexican chilled beef exports during July 2012 kicked up 85 percent year-on-year, totaling 8,509 metric tons (MT), with the increase underpinned by a 61 percent rise in shipments to the U.S.

For the same period frozen beef exports improved 18 percent, to 5,536 MT.

For the first seven months of 2012, Mexican beef exports had increased 43 percent year-on-year, supported by larger volumes to the U.S. (up 47 percent), Japan (up 29 percent) and Russia (up 54 percent).

Mexican beef imports declined throughout July, dropping 16 percent on the corresponding period in 2011, to 13,129 MT. The main contributor to the reduced volume was a 12 percent decline in the importation of U.S. beef, at 11,184 MT.

Increased U.S. beef prices, resulting in Mexican buyers reverting to cheaper protein, has been the main reasons behind the decline in the importation of U.S. beef, along with the rise in Mexican exports to the U.S.

Russia
Russian authorities say they are considering imposing temporary restrictions on the importation of breeding cattle by sea from the U.S. in the wake of high mortality rates on a recent cattle shipment.

Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) said it was seriously concerned about the deaths of breeding cattle on a recent shipment from the U.S. to the port of Novorossiysk.

Of the 3,314 animals off-loaded from the Pearl of Para vessel, 59 animals died during transportation from Novorossiysk to the farms of destination, 160 animals died during quarantine period on the farms of destination, 180 animals were slaughtered and 665 animals are planned for emergency slaughter due to extreme sickness.

The Russian consignees complained they were short-received over 1,000 breeding cattle. Rosselkhoznadzor stated that a further 195 animals which were too weak for off-loading were sent back aboard the same ship to the U.S.

The agency says it has submitted a request to U.S. veterinary services to carry out an internal investigation and to take necessary measures to prevent such cases in the future.

Rosselkhoznadzor said in a statement it was not confident the U.S. had systems in place to guarantee such a situation would not occur again but added that it has agreed to continue consultations to provide an acceptable safety level during export of live animals from the U.S. to Russia. 

Clint Peck is former director of Montana’s Beef Quality Assurance program.