Friday, April 5, 2013

Europeans stall free trade over beef’s origin


Frederic Seppey, chief negotiator for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, says a key stumbling block in the trade negotiations with Europe is a demand to know the origin of the animals for beef and pork exports.

The Europeans apparently are concerned that U.S. beef might be using Canada as a back door to the European markets.

They don’t need to worry about pork because Canada’s import regulations for pork packers are so onerous that nobody imports U.S. pigs for slaughter in Canada.

They have, however, made the same demand for pork
.
On the other hand, Canada is being even more obstinate over European desires to gain increased access to the Canadian dairy markets, especially for cheeses.

It’s Canada’s marketing boards that refuse to budge a single iota on that issue.

"We are within reach of an agreement, the final stages. It would be such a shame to not conclude," Seppey said, adding that he expects the two sides to eventually find a solution on the livestock origin issue.
Other outstanding issues include access for pharmaceuticals and automobiles, he said.