Canada’s recent deal with South Korea to resume trade in Canadian beef should be an impetus to resume free trade talks that would help the pork sector, say industry players.
However, there is no guarantee that will happen.
So far, Ottawa has been silent on the prospect for renewed free trade talks with Korea, which were suspended more than three years ago.
“The Canadian hog sector is an important part of the economy and an important export industry,” Canadian Pork Council president Jean-Guy Vincent said.
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“I hope this deal, which is good for beef, will lead to a deal that will be good for us.”
Jim Laws, executive director of the Canadian Meat Council, which represents federally inspected packing plants that sell to Korea, agreed.
“We really want them to pick up again and I hope getting the beef irritant off the table will take that pressure off and lead to a resumption of talks,” he said.
“Let’s say we are hopeful that will be the result. We are not really sure why talks have been stalled this long. We think it is time to start again if Korea is willing.”
With the Conservative government’s emphasis on trade deals, the hog industry has been baffled about why it remains mute in the face of a lobby to resume talks.
There is an assumption that a dispute over automobile trade is at the root of it, but Korea’s refusal to accept Canadian beef in the wake of the 2003 BSE crisis was also a sticking point.
The beef lobby, a powerful voice in Conservative Ottawa, insisted that a free trade deal without beef access would not be worth signing.
That is now off the table.
“Hopefully that helps and perhaps negotiations on pork were well underway when the last session was held and they can pick that up where they left off,” said Laws.
While the beef industry considers Korean market access important, the pork industry ships 10 times as much product to the Asian country.
South Korea has been Canada’s second largest pork market, and last year’s outbreak of foot-and-mouth in the Korean hog herd has increased the country’s need for imports.
However, free trade deals with the United States, the European Union and Chile will give those areas a tariff advantage in the Korean market if Canada does not catch up, the meat council argues.
Vincent said the federal government has to realize that while part of Canadian agriculture services the domestic market, a much larger segment depends on exports.
“In our industry, export market access is one of the tools we need and Korea is very important to that,” he said.
“Last year it was worth $250 million and we could lose that if we are not competitive on access. We were the second largest supplier. We could lose that. The government has to understand that and act.”
