OTTAWA, ONTARIO — Together, the Meat Institute and the Canadian Meat Council (CMC) submitted recommendations to the Canada-US Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) for improving trade alignment between the two nations.

The joint letter addressed regulatory divergencies, redundancies and inefficiencies that hinder an integrated North American meat and poultry market.

“CMC and the Meat Institute recognize ongoing industry and governmental collaboration is critical to preserving market integration, is vital to the future growth of our respective industries and is integral to the communities and workers we support,” said Julie Anna Potts, president and chief executive officer of the Meat Institute. “Onerous, duplicative regulations and processes, however, serve only to hinder the significant progress North American meat and poultry packers and processors have made to bolster supply chain efficiencies, to ameliorate food and worker safety, to combat environmental degradation and embrace sustainable development, and to feed growing North American and global populations through innovative advancements that produce more food using fewer resources.”

CMC and the Meat Institute recommended several regulatory reforms that could streamline trade within North America, including establishing joint food safety risk assessments and promoting mutual recognition of food safety technologies approvals. Other recommendations included CUSMA pilot project proposals to create pre-screening and streamline sampling across borders.

An item of concern to both groups was the voluntary Product of USA label final rule, which requires compliance from participating establishments by Jan. 1, 2026.

CMC and the Meat Institute urged the RCC to address several trade priorities and impediments that affect the meat industry, such as facilitating US live hog exports to Canada, converging food safety technology approval processes and eliminating restrictions on veal imports from the United States.

“Together, our industries produce some of the highest-quality, safest and most nutritionally dense products in the world, playing key roles in advancing food and economic security at all levels,” said Chris White, president and CEO of CMC. “By streamlining regulatory and customs procedures, eliminating non-science-based trade barriers and enhancing collaboration on global issues such as technology, sustainability and foreign animal disease, the Canadian and US governments can promote greater resilience, cooperation and growth within the North American meat industry.”