Red meat industry leaders got together Oct. 24 to praise the Conservative government for efforts to open markets for Canadian agricultural exports.
Canadian Cattlemen’s Association president Travis Toews said agriculture minister Gerry Ritz and trade minister Ed Fast “really understand that our producers need market access and we thank them for working hard to create that access for us.”
The Canadian Meat Council echoed the praise, as did Pulse Canada, which asked the Conservatives to increase efforts in the next year to reduce tariff, non-tariff and transportation barriers that still restrict pulse exports.
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The industry leaders issued statements of praise after Ritz released a market access report that described deals that will allow tens of millions of dollars worth of additional products to be sold to countries ranging from beef to South Korea and canola and beef tallow to China.
“These successes represent real dollars in the pockets of our farmers and significant growth for the Canadian economy,” he said in a speech to an Ottawa conference on market access. The market access secretariat will continue its work, Ritz added.
“Despite our shared successes, there remains much more work to be done,” he said.
Exports to Russia soar
He said Canadian efforts in Russia allowed a tripling of beef sales to that country in the past year, and he predicted that will increase as Canadian- Russian co-operation continues.
Ritz told reporters later that Canada could become Russia’s preferred supplier of beef and industry technology and knowledge.
“The Russians are giving us that to believe,” he said, because Canada is co-operating with them to improve Russian production, processing and marketing.
“They are looking at Canada supplying a full value chain in their meat industry,” he said. “No one else is prepared to do that so it’s certainly giving us an inside track.”
He also responded to the meat industry’s call for renewed free trade talks with South Korea because competitor countries are signing deals that will give them access advantages.
Ritz told reporters that the first priority was last summer’s agreement that could restore “access to the lucrative South Korea beef market” by the end of the year.
“With free trade talks, we’re always amenable to pick those up again,” he said. “We wanted to get that beef situation out of the way.”
The Koreans are signaling full implementation by year end.
“That’s a good solid signal to us that they are serious about the Canada- Korea free trade agreement and we’re happy to sit down to expedite that process.” cce s=subscriber Ritz suggested that the Conservative government’s approach to trade promotion, which includes industry involvement and priorities, is better than that of previous governments.
“There was a time when industry and government operated on different tracks and with different priorities,” he said.
“Often they both worked with limited resources and ultimately had limited results.”
