Tokyo, Japan- The Canadian Agri-food Trade Alliance was in Tokyo today to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper following the launch of negotiations towards an Economic Partnership Agreement between Canada and Japan.
“CAFTA congratulates both governments on the launch of negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement between the two countries and is excited by the potential to expand trade relations with Japan,” says Kathleen Sullivan, Executive Director of CAFTA. Ms. Sullivan is part of a Canadian agri-food delegation travelling with Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz to Japan and South Korea.
Japan is a priority market for Canada’s agri-food sectors. In 2011 Canada exported almost $4 billion in food products to Japan accounting for 10% of Canada’s total agri-food exports and making Japan Canada’s second largest export market. CAFTA members, including the beef, pork, canola, grain, malt, and sugar sectors, were responsible for almost $3.5 billion in agri-food shipments to Japan – 85 percent of Canada’s total agri-food exports to that country.
Japan is the largest predictable market for Canadian canola seed, the second largest market for Canadian malt and Canadian pork, the third largest market for Canadian wheat and the fourth largest market for Canadian beef. “A free trade agreement with Japan could result in additional exports of high-value Canadian agri-food products to that country,” says Sullivan. “Japan’s agriculture sector is highly subsidized and Japan currently applies high tariffs on many products and imposes non-tariff barriers in a number of areas. We encourage both governments to pursue an ambitious, wide-ranging agreement that expands trade in goods and addresses non-tariff measures – including technical trade barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary issues and customs administration - which affect agri-food trade.”
At a round table with the Prime Minister, Ms. Sullivan noted that it is critical for Canada to continue pursuing its agrifood export interests around the globe. This includes concluding ambitious trade deals with the South Korea, the European Union and India and continuing to work towards membership in the Trans Pacific Partnership, markets which together with Japan represent 70% of Canada’s agri-food trade
Source: Canadian Canola Council.