A senate committee is in Calgary this week to get input from farmers on international trade deals, including the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The 12-country agreement would set the rules for more than a third of the world's trade, reducing tariffs on a large range of commodities like canola, fish and seafood, forestry products and industrial goods.
Ward Toma, general manager of the Alberta Canola Producers Commission, says the province's agriculture industry stands to benefit from the TPP.
It allows for us to access markets into the future. It allows for us to be competitive against our competitors," he said.
"Having the rules put in place around non-tariff trade barriers so that we can solve disputes around trade issues is very important for us."
The senate committee will put out a report with recommendations on international trade next March.
Canada has up to two years to decide whether to ratify the TPP.
Toma says canola producers in Alberta export up to 85 per cent of their crop to international markets, like the U.S. and Japan.
Source : CBC