The Canadian Pork Council, long a stalwart member of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, will join the rival Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance with its much more aggressive push for trade liberalization.
It will not relinquish its membership in the CFA but it will be the first CFA member to join CAFTA.
Pork council president Clare Schlegel, a southern Ontario hog producer, said that delegates at the council’s semi-annual meeting approved a resolution that its executive “should pursue all avenues for free trade.”
He said the federation and the alliance have been asked to submit their trade policies for an analysis of which best serves hog industry interests. He expects a decision to join CAFTA will come soon.
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“There is a perception that CAFTA wants to push for significantly freer trade in all areas,” Schlegel said in an interview. “CPC agrees with that perspective.”
However, he said the pork council will not quit its membership in the federation.
“This is in no way a criticism of the CFA and its role as a national general farm organization,” said Schlegel.
However, the two organizations have significantly different trade positions. At trade meetings, representatives regularly offer different demands for the outcome of talks.
