CMC Submits Position on TPP to House of Commons Committee on International Trade

Farmscape for November 7, 2016

The Canadian Meat Council says, if the Trans-Pacific Partnership moves forward, its critical that Canada be part of it.
In October representatives of the Canadian Meat Council appeared before the House of Commons Committee on International Trade for a Presentation on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The Committee is conducting hearings to obtain perspectives on what the various groups think about the potential of ratifying the TPP.
Ron Davidson, the Director for International Trade, Government and Media Relations with Canadian Meat Council, says, if we conclude this agreement, it will be a major multilateral agreement that sets new rules for the world trading environment.

Clip-Ron Davidson-Canadian Meat Council:
As I believe you know, we already have free trade agreements with some of the TPP countries including the United States and Mexico but we do not have a free trade agreement with countries such as Japan and Malaysia and Vietnam.
Particularly in the case of Japan, this agreement contains substantive improvements in access for pork products and for beef products.
If we could obtain those improved markets access conditions we should be able to increase our exports of pork and beef to Japan particularly but also to Vietnam and Malaysia.
Combining all the meats together we might be able to increase our exports by 500 million dollars.
It's important not just to look at what we could gain but also what would be lost if we weren't part of this type of agreement.
Japan is our most valuable overseas market for pork and for beef combined and we have a billion dollars of exports on the line.
This is about a fifth of our total exports.
If we should lose our competitiveness in the Japanese market in particular it would have a devastating impact on feed grain farmers, on livestock producers and our Canadian meat processors.

Davidson says it's absolutely critical that, if there's a TPP, that Canada be part of it.
For Farmscape.Ca, I'm Bruce Cochrane.

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