Canadian pork could soon be heading south and Argentine beef coming north as the result of a deal announced last week.
Three years of negotiations have produced a one-year pilot project that will lift health-related restrictions on meat trade between the two countries.
Argentina imports 30,000 to 40,000 tonnes of pork annually and government officials say Canada is now in a good position to grab a share of that market.
“The pork industry has been anxious to get the Argentine market for a number of years,” said Ian Kirk of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which will monitor the agreement.
Read Also
Agriculture ministers agree to AgriStability changes
federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
He added the early indications from the industry are promising.
“If we can put down a good quality product … it may well be that there’s more of a market there than we think.”
Martin Rice, of the Canadian Pork Council, said several Canadian exporters have already established contacts with Argentine importers and it shouldn’t take long for product to begin moving south.
He said Canada can aim to ship 3,000 to 7,000 tonnes in the coming year, competing with Brazil and other South American suppliers, along with the United States.
As for the prospect of Argentine beef coming into Canada, the deal allows that country to compete for a share of Canada’s annual tariff rate quota of 76,409 tonnes, most of which is now filled by Australia and New Zealand.
Larry Sears, chair of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association’s foreign trade committee, said his organization is pleased with the agreement because it represents an extension of Canada’s free trade zone into Latin America.
“We’re not excited or upset,” he said, adding it could help give Canadian beef producers access to markets in South America at some point in the future.
Argentina was recently recognized as being free of hoof-and-mouth disease. While some cooked, frozen beef and canned corned beef has come into Canada, fresh beef has been banned. The new rules will allow fresh, chilled and frozen beef.
The health issue for Canadian pork was porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome. It’s a disease that raised concerned with other importers as well, but Kirk said the Argentines have now been convinced it is extremely unlikely to be passed on through meat.
Some industry observers say the Argentines were unlikely to lift their ban on Canadian pork as long as Canada banned their beef.
“The lifting of the pork ban was probably held up by the beef issue,” said Rice. “They were technical issues in both directions so I guess it was recognized for some time they would probably be addressed simultaneously.”
