Minister Bibeau on trade mission to the Philippines

Sep 26, 2022

The minister will tour processing facilities and meet with stakeholders about Canadian ag

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Canada’s federal minister of agriculture is in the Philippines for a trade mission.

Marie-Claude Bibeau left Canada Friday for a multi-day trip that sees her meet with Filipino government officials and stakeholders from different agriculture and food industries and organizations.

Specific stops during her trip include a Tim Horton’s in Manila and touring the Philippine Foremost Milling Corporation, which uses Canadian wheat.

“Canada’s wheat quality is well known in Philippines! Today, I visited the Philippines Foremost Milling Corp. – one of the largest flour milling companies in the (country) that buys and uses (Canadian) wheat for flour production,” Bibeau posted on Twitter Monday.

Canada wheat’s quality is well known in Philippines! Today, I visited the Philippines Foremost Milling Corp. – one of the largest flour milling companies in the 🇵🇭 that buys and uses 🇨🇦 wheat for flour production. @wheatgrowers pic.twitter.com/zmPhYklt08
— Marie-Claude Bibeau (@mclaudebibeau) September 26, 2022

In 2021, Canada exported $1.3 billion of goods to the Philippines, up from $899.4 million in 2020.

Canadian ag accounted for $390 million, or about 30 per cent, of total exports.

Top Canadian exports include meat and cereals.

“Increased exports of meat and wood played a key factor in the increase in total merchandise exports in 2021,” a Government of Canada fact sheet says.

The two countries are also negotiating free trade in the Canada-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) agreement.

Early in 2022, the Philippines lifted a temporary ban on Canadian beef.

Multiple countries placed bans on Canadian beef after a case of atypical BSE was found on an Alberta farm in December 2021.

As of 2019, the Philippines is Canada’s sixth largest market for pork, the Canadian Pork Council says.

That year, Canada exported $117 million of pork to the Philippines.

Video: Finding her path back to the Swine Industry each time with Dr. Miriam Martin.

Dr. Miriam Martin is Director of Animal Health and Welfare from the North American Meat Institute.

We discuss how she grew up in Swine Production on a small Hog Farm in Missouri. We discuss her enhanced career path, and exciting things in store at her job at NAMI. We discuss her mentor Temple Grandin, and her time at Colorado and Kansas State University and learning about Swine behaviour and pain research. We discuss ASF preparedness, Safeguarding Animal Health and finally if we need to define a leadership strategy or outside box approach to move the Swine Industry forward.

About Our Guest Dr. Miriam S. Martin grew up on a ranch in Meadville, Missouri. Miriam completed he undergraduate degree in animal science at the University of Missouri where she discovered her passion for animal welfare. She earned a Masters in livestock behavior and welfare in Temple Grandin’s group at Colorado State University before enrolling in a Doctoral program at Kansas State University in August 2018. Miriam is the first recipient of the FFAR Fellowship in the history of Kansas State University. Dr. Martin’s doctoral studies focused on investigating pain and analgesic strategies in food animals. These studies resulted in the publication of 8 first author papers and 5 co-author publications. Miriam served as the Midwest ASAS Graduate Director and the CVM GSA Vice President. She is also the recipient of a 2022 ASAS Midwest Young Scholars Award. Dr. Martin successfully defended her Ph.D. on October 2021 and she currently serves as the Director of Animal Health and Welfare for the North American Meat Institute.