The
Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) welcomes the beginning of provisional
application of the historic Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
with the European Union (EU) and looks forward to timely resolution of
remaining barriers.
Today,
CAFTA representatives attended a celebration of the agreement held by the
Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of International Trade.
“While
we urge the government to resolve the outstanding issues, we are also
encouraged that Canada is forging ahead with its commitment to freer trade with
the world’s second largest economy,” said Brian Innes, CAFTA president.
“Eventually, CETA will mean preferential access for Canadian agri-food to an
$18 trillion market that includes 500 million people.”
The
potential for Canada making greater trade inroads in EU markets is huge. Canada
exported $3.5 billion in agriculture and food products to the EU in 2016 –
making it the country’s fourth largest export destination. When the CETA is
fully implemented, it will eliminate EU tariffs on almost 94 per cent of
Canada’s agri-food products.
While
the results won’t be immediate for some agri-food sectors, the agreement
presents the potential to drive additional exports of up to $1.5 billion per
year. This includes $600 million in beef, $400 million in pork, $100 million in
grains and oilseeds, $100 million in sugar containing products and a further
$300 million in processed foods, fruits and vegetables.
“At a
time when some countries are looking inward, it’s critical that Canada
continues to pursue free trade agreements like CETA,” Innes said. “Our growing
export-oriented agri-food sector relies on access to markets. We encourage our
government officials to keep up the hard work required to resolve remaining
issues.”
Innes
cited the slow progress the EU is making to allow real, commercially viable
access to the EU for agri-food exporters. This includes progress on meat
processing protocols, crop protection products, country of origin labelling and
the timely approval of biotechnology traits. CAFTA members are also very
concerned with recent protectionist measures from Member States under the guise
of country of origin labelling provisions. These measures are not in the spirit
of CETA and threaten to fragment the common EU market.
CAFTA
President Brian Innes was in Montreal for the launch ceremony. CAFTA staff and
members have recognized the potential of the CETA from inception of the
pre-negotiation phase, through the negotiations and the implementation process.
We will continue to work closely with government and negotiators on the
implementation of this deal to ensure that the immense potential of the CETA is
realized.
CAFTA
is the voice of Canadian agriculture and agri-food exporters. CAFTA members
represent over 90 per cent of Canada’s agriculture and agri-food exports, more
than $55 billion in exports annually. The economic activity created by CAFTA
members supports hundreds of thousands of jobs in agriculture and food
manufacturing. A significant portion of these jobs would not exist without
competitive access to world markets. CAFTA members represent farmers,
producers, processors and exporters from the trade dependent sectors including
the beef, pork, grains, oilseeds, sugar, pulse, soy and malt sectors.
For
further information:
Claire
Citeau
Executive
Director, CAFTA
cciteau@cafta.org