Careful Review Underway Of TPP Agreement For Canada's Farmers

From CFA Communications

With the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations earlier today, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) is carefully reviewing the details of the deal to better understand the varied outcomes for Canadian farmers.
 
The CFA and its members have remained steadfast in their position regarding the importance for Canada to be an active participant in this monumental trade agreement in order to ensure Canadian farmers have the market certainty they need and deserve going into the future.
 
For a number of export-oriented farmers, such as beef and pork producers, the deal will result in equal access to TPP markets in particular Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia, placing Canadian producers on equal footing with their American and Australian counterparts. For others, such as sugar beet producers, the deal fell short in securing the increased market access necessary into the United States to allow sugar beet growers to move confidently ahead in the future with their domestic production.
 
"The Japanese market alone offers huge potential for our beef and pork producers," noted Ron Bonnett, CFA President. "With our reputation for producing high products, Canadian farmers should be able to make substantial inroads into the Pacific Rim markets."
 
The trade agreement will also introduce market access concessions to the Canadian dairy, poultry and egg industries, which will be required to allow an additional 2% to 3.2% of imports into the Canadian market.
 
"Certainly increased foreign access to our dairy, poultry and egg sectors was not the desired outcome in these negotiations, but we are encouraged to see the Canadian government has taken steps in announcing programs aimed at mitigating the negative repercussions to producers by means of compensation," explained Bonnett.
 
CFA encourages Canada's new Parliament following the October 19 election to carefully review the deal and its merits along with the commitments to assist those sectors negatively impacted.  It is also calling on the Canadian government to pause and assess its trade agenda. With last year's Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Europe and today's TPP agreement, Canada now has free trade agreements with the two largest trading blocks in the world.
 
"What is needed now is for government and industry stakeholders to come together to analyze what is needed for Canadian farmers to take full advantage of these trade deals and develop an export strategy," Bonnett remarked.