During the opening session lunch, there was a panel discussion on the cost to the U.S. cattle and beef industry of failure by U.S. Congress to implement the TPP. They have estimated the cost at $367,000 USD per day that the U.S. beef sector is losing while Australia has a tariff advantage on beef access to Japan. The NCBA has launched the TPP Now website to further explain the consequences of delay.
The NCBA also expressed concern that Canada and other countries could tire of waiting for U.S. action and proceed with their own bilateral agreements with Japan. This is definitely an approach the CCA has been advocating for in Ottawa. In fact, Canada started negotiating a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan in 2012, and has already conducted seven rounds of negotiation.
The bilateral negotiations took a breather when Japan took a seat at the TPP table‚ but the framework is in place for Canada and Japan pick back up where they left off.
Another major concern and subject of discussion at the conference was the volatility of the futures market. There did not appear to be a clear recommendation about policies or mechanisms that could be put in place to improve the situation, but this will certainly continue to be a predominant topic of study and debate within the U.S. Canadian producers will have a keen interest in the discussion and its outcomes.
The NCBA is very eager to gain official access to China and CCA fielded many questions in the hallways about Canada's experience and success in that market. Despite China being Canada's second largest beef export market in 2015, the Canadian beef industry is still looking to expand access to include bone-in product, as well as enable fresh chilled exports.
The zero tolerance on ractopamine by China also continues to be a challenge and the goal is to see China adopt the Codex standard for a maximum residue limit. Currently, Canada has frozen boneless under-30-month (UTM) access to China while the U.S. remains without access.
Source: Meatbusiness