CALGARY, Alta. — The movement of Canadian beef products across the U.S. border has been delayed.

Originally, trucks were to begin moving certain cuts of beef into the U.S. on Sept. 1. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced permits won’t be issued until after Labour Day weekend.

That will result in a delay of several days or maybe even weeks, depending how long it takes to implement the permit process.

“We’re planning to have large number of staff available to handle permits and issue them in a timely fashion,”Ed Curlett, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture told local media. “(But) will every single one of them go out that first week? Probably not.”

U.S. customs officers have yet to receive word when they should expect to see truckloads of Canadian beef entering the country.

Meanwhile, Canadian packers are scrambling to ensure they meet the new rules imposed by the U.S. under the partial lift of the beef ban.

“We’re taking very small, calculated steps to make sure we fully understand everything we need to do,” said Robert Meijer, spokesman for Cargill Foods, told the Calgary Sun. “We want to play by the rules, meet the (regulations) and do what’s asked of us, so that when we’re finally accepted to move product into the U.S., we can do it with as little hesitation at the border as possible.”