The Canadian Wheat Board has welcomed news that the federal government will soon begin pursuing a free trade deal with Peru and Colombia, two increasingly larger buyers of Canadian wheat.
Speaking in Washington, D.C., May 2, international trade minister David Emerson said he expects talks to start some time this year.
That was good news for CWB director Larry Hill, chair of the board’s international trade committee.
“We urge the federal government to move quickly in securing free trade agreements to protect the interests of prairie producers,” he said.
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The CWB and other agricultural exporters have long urged the federal government to be more aggressive in pursuing bilateral trade deals with important importing countries or regions.
The United States has negotiated a number of such arrangements in recent years and Canadian exporters fear they could lose valuable markets to their American competitors.
For example, the Americans have successfully negotiated deals with both Peru and Colombia that are awaiting ratification by the U.S. Congress.
Those deals would provide U.S. exporters with duty-free access for wheat, barley, pulse crops, pork and other commodities. Meanwhile, Canadian exporters face a 15 percent tariff.
U.S. wheat industry groups have said they expect their deals with Peru and Colombia will double U.S. wheat sales to those countries to more than $400 million annually, sales that would come largely at the expense of Canada.
Both countries are important markets for Canada, which in 2006 shipped a record 575,000 tonnes to Peru and 400,000 tonnes to Colombia.
Wheat exports to Peru have increased by 155 percent since 2002, while total exports of grains, pulses and special crops have more than doubled. The total value of Canadian exports to Peru last year was a record $288 million, including $124 million worth of wheat and durum.
The CWB is part of an ad hoc organization representing pulse, canola and special crop industries, pork producers and oilseed processors that has been lobbying since 2003 for bilateral trade agreements with important customers like China, India, Japan and Morocco.
