Ottawa, ON – “The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations have reached a pivotal stage, all countries must take hard decisions, and strong leadership is required now,” said Canadian Meat Council (CMC) President Joe Reda. “Negotiators are assembling in Maui for what is anticipated to be the most decisive round of the TPP discussions. The choices that are made there will have major current and future consequences for all farmers and processors in Canada’s very exportdependent agriculture and agri-food sector,” added Reda.
“Competitive access to export markets is crucial for a critical 50 per cent of the beef and veal that is produced from Canada’s 68,500 beef farms and feedlots as well as for the substantive volumes of beef and veal that are produced from the cull cattle and calves from Canada’s 12,000 dairy farms” said Matt Gibney, Chair of the CMC Beef, Veal, and Lamb Committee. “Canadian exports of beef and veal were valued at $1.9 billion in 2014 of which $1.7 billion (86 per cent) of the total was shipped tocountries that are current TPP participants,” added Gibney.
“Similar to the case for beef, the pork sector represents a major market outlet for feed grain farmers across Canada,” said Guy Baudry, Chair of the CMC Pork Committee. “A level playing field with our competitors in access to export markets is of critical importance. These markets are indispensable for 65 per cent of the pork produced from Canada’s 7,125 farms that raise hogs. Canadian exports of pork were valued at $3.7 billion in 2014 of which $2.8 billion (74 per cent) of the total was shipped to countries that are current TPP participants,” added Baudry.
“Canadian participation as a founding member of the TPP is of paramount importance,” said CMC Executive Director Jim Laws. “The TPP is at present the closest initiative in the world to a multilateral trade negotiation; the TPP is creating the crucial rules that will govern trade for decades to come in a growing market of 800 million people that accounts for 40 per cent of the world’s economy; the TPP will have a profound impact on the structure of the global value chains of the future; full participation in the TPP will be essential to not only obtaining access to new and expanded market opportunities, but also to maintaining competitive access to vital current markets; more than $4 billion of annual
meat exports to the Pacific region is in play in the TPP negotiations; and, farmers and processors do not wish to repeat their experience in South Korea when Canadian meat exports crashed by 64 per cent within two years after losing competitive access to that market,” added Laws.
Canada’s meat processing industry includes some 400 federally registered establishments, providing safe, high quality protein for Canadian consumers as well as adding jobs and contributing to economic activity in both rural and urban communities across Canada. With annual sales of $23.6 billion, beef exports of $1.9 billion, pork exports of $3.7 billion and 65,000 jobs, the Canadian meat industry is the largest component of this country’s food processing sector.
The Canadian Meat Council has been representing Canada’s federally inspected meat processing industry since 1919.
Source: CMC