Jessica Frenette, owner of Bird's Hill Farms in New Brunswick, is facing challenges in selling her premium Wagyu beef to customers outside the province. Frenette's farm, located north of Woodstock, is the largest producer of full-blood Japanese Wagyu beef in the region. She has received numerous inquiries from chefs and food enthusiasts in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland who are eager to purchase her product. However, federal regulations currently prevent her from shipping the beef across provincial borders.

"From Nova Scotia, P.E.I., Newfoundland specifically, people are reaching out, wanting our product, either on their menu or to try," Frenette said. Earlier this year, discussions about eliminating interprovincial trade barriers raised her hopes for expanding her business. But she quickly realized that the reality is different. "We are not able to send them our product right now. We can only sell in New Brunswick. It's definitely something that's hindering our growth potential," she added.

Wagyu beef is known for its high intramuscular fat content, which gives it a rich, buttery flavor. The processing of meat falls under provincial jurisdiction, but when it comes to interprovincial trade, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulations apply, which are often stricter than provincial rules. To comply with these regulations, Frenette would need to send her cattle to a federally regulated abattoir in P.E.I., which poses significant challenges for her small operation.

Frenette processes only one or two cows at a time, and the requirement to freeze the meat at the abattoir would consume her profits. "We're a small operation of a very specific product that needs to be processed in a very specific way, and it's just not economically feasible for us to use the federal abattoir," she explained.

This situation creates a paradox for chefs in nearby cities like Halifax. Greg Burns, executive chef at the Prince George Hotel, noted that he can import Wagyu beef from Australia more easily than he can source it from Bird's Hill Farms, which is only a five-hour drive away. "I can access mostly anything I want all around the world but yet I can't use a local farm that's doing great, in the Maritimes," Burns said. He highlighted the absurdity of the situation, stating that Frenette's beef is considered safe to eat in Sackville, N.B., but not in Amherst, N.S., just ten minutes away.

Tyler McCann, managing director of the Canadian Agri-Food Institute, acknowledged the complexity of the issue. He explained that while Frenette maintains high processing standards, not all producers do. "The problem is these rules exist because not every place does take the utmost care with what they're doing and what they're producing," McCann said. He pointed out that the harmonization of federal and provincial rules has been a recurring topic in discussions among agricultural ministers for the past two decades.

In a recent statement, the CFIA mentioned that it is working with provinces to help producers market their goods across Canada. New Brunswick's Agricultural Minister Pat Finnigan also expressed a commitment to exploring opportunities for improving interprovincial trade.

Despite these discussions, McCann noted that only five percent of meat in Canada is processed in non-federal abattoirs, making it a low priority for change. He suggested that if New Brunswick raised its inspection standards to match federal regulations, it could alleviate some of the barriers.

Frenette envisions a more streamlined regulatory system that would allow her to ship her Wagyu beef to chefs like Burns. She hopes for a memorandum of understanding between provinces that would recognize the safety of her beef across borders. Bird's Hill Farms began its Wagyu operation nearly a decade ago, initially as a small venture. Now, Frenette believes she could significantly expand her herd if the regulatory environment were more favorable. "Trying to figure out how we take that next step as we continue to grow has been a tough thing to navigate," she said.