Canada has
signed an agriculture research agreement with Germany.
Agriculture
Minister Lawrence MacAulay and Christian Schmidt, German Federal Minister for Food
and Agriculture, signed the deal during the long weekend on Prince Edward
Island.
The two
countries will work closer together in four areas of agricultural research:
Sustainable
agriculture and climate change, particularly in the areas of protecting soil
and water and breeding crops that are more resistant to the effects of climate
change;
Agri-food,
including crop breeding for nutrition and health and reducing food waste and
loss;
Sharing
best management practices for knowledge and technology transfer to farmers and
industry, and
Personnel
exchange, including exchanges of scientists and students between Canada and
Germany to build on opportunities for collaboration.
Germany has
been a strong science partner with AAFC for over a decade, especially in the
areas of crop development and animal health, said a news release issued by the
Canadian government.
The
Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) will
give Canadian farmers, processors and exporters duty-free access to more than
half a billion consumers across the EU, the world's largest import market for
agriculture and agri-food.
CETA has,
however, yet to be ratified by the countries that are part of the European
Union.
