The Dominican Republic has reopened its border to Canadian beef, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced on 11 September. The approval covers beef and beef products, including offal, from cattle of all ages, and three plants are cleared to export: JBS Food and Cargill in Alberta and Tru North Foods in Manitoba.

The country was one of many that stopped taking Canadian beef on 20 May 2003 after the first domestic case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Canada gained negligible-risk status for the disease in 2021, but individual markets still had to be won back one audit at a time. From suspension to reopening the gap was 23 years, three months and 22 days, or 8,515 days.

The decision followed an audit of Canada's beef inspection system by Dominican officials, which the Canadian Meat Council hosted and funded. "The Canadian Meat Council has been advocating for this market access since 2023," the organisation said, adding that without the audit and the resulting approval Canadian establishments could not have exported there.

The prize is a market that imported about $215 million of beef in 2025. "Re-opening access creates new opportunities for our farmers and processors to expand their reach, strengthen their operations, and support jobs across Canada," said Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald, promising further work with industry to open other doors.

Diego Flammini reported the story for Farms.com.

Photo: Amqui / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Source: Farms.com