There are now 27 Canadian beef and pork processors eligible to export meat to Ukraine.
The federal government announced Jan. 11 that 15 Canadian establishments that were audited by Ukraine in September have been approved, opening the doors wider to meat exports as part of the Canada Ukraine Free Trade Agreement.
The agreement, negotiated last July, is designed to increase trade between the two countries and eliminate all non-agricultural tariffs and “the vast majority of Ukraine’s agricultural tariffs, including on Canadian beef, certain pork, pulses, grains, fish, seafood, canola oil, processed foods and animal feed,” said a government news release.
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The Ukrainian market for Canadian beef and pork is estimated to be worth up to $50 million a year.
The two countries’ total trade averaged $293 million from 2012-14, and the government said it is expected to expand by 19 percent once CUFTA is fully implemented.
In 2014, Ukraine imported $17 million worth of beef and $193.6 million worth of pork from around the world, and Canada wants to increase its share of that total.
According to details of CUFTA released in July, Canadian pork will receive duty-free access on fresh and chilled product, and a duty-free tariff rate quota on frozen pork and some offal will increase to 20,000 tonnes from 10,000 tonnes over a seven-year period.
