The canola industry will use a sizable federal contribution to help predict future market access issues and ensure continued sales opportunities.
The Conservative government has announced $7.8 million to fund a market access plan that will address current and future trade barriers for an industry that contributes $14 billion annually to the Canadian economy.
“The goal of this strategy is to help Canadian canola producers to have full, fair and predictable access to existing international markets and to open new markets to Canadian canola,” said federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz in a speech he delivered in Saskatoon as Crop Production Week events began across town.
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JoAnne Buth, president of the Canola Council of Canada, said the money will be used to address issues like the loss of the Chinese market due to concerns about blackleg disease. But it will also be used to get a jump on future barriers to trade.
“Two to three years from now, I think we’ll be able to say, ‘we know where the next one is coming from,’” she said.
Market access is critical for a crop where 90 percent of the production is exported, which is why the council is also contributing $1.2 million to the project. The first priority is restoring trade with China, which consumed 2.9 million tonnes or 36 percent of last year’s exports.
Some of the planned expenses include surveys for China’s quality control officials, hosting a delegation from China to get a first-hand look at Canadian production and sending a Canadian team to China to inspect and gather information on Chinese crushing plants.
The council will also attempt to foster a closer relationship between government officials from the two countries.
Buth said there is a dearth of information right now. She is especially concerned about the lack of import permits to access the three Chinese ports that remain open to Canadian exporters.
“We don’t know where the import permits are at,” she said.
But the money isn’t all about China. The council will spend the next four years developing country-specific plans for all its key markets.
Regulations will be examined, political winds will be sniffed and consumer concerns will be assessed to help predict and prevent future trade disruptions.
“Part of it is intelligence gathering,” said Buth.
Resources will also be devoted to informing Canada’s 50,000 canola growers how to keep their crops export-ready by avoiding certain pesticides and non-registered varieties.
Buth praised the government for its quick action on the China file, crediting Agriculture Canada’s Market Access Secretariat for an agreement to keep three of the dozens of Chinese ports open for trade.
She thanked Ritz for the $7.8 million cash injection, which should help the industry reach its goal of achieving 15 million tonnes of production by 2015.
“Because what drives production is demand and we have to make sure the demand is there,” said Buth.
She believes the industry will soon be contributing $20 billion annually to the Canadian economy.
“The payback is huge for supporting an industry like ours.”
Ritz offered a hint when asked if flax growers can expect a similar market access funding announcement.
“I’ll just say, ‘Stay tuned,’” he said.
