Thursday, January 18, 2018

Meat Council urges TPP deal

The Canadian Meat Council has issued an urgent call for Canada to push for a Trans-Pacific Partnership deal.

It is drawing attention to Japan’s meat import tariffs which, under a TPP deal, could decline by 11 per cent for Canadians.

But failing that gain, Canada will continue to be at a competitive disadvantage to Australia, which has negotiated a lower tariff for its meat exports to Japan.

A TPP deal would also give Canadians an edge over the United States because President Donald Trump has pulled the U.S. out of the TPP negotiations.

‘The Canadian Meat Council is confident that this deal would increase beef and pork sales by at least $500 million, creating the potential to support an additional 5,800 jobs,” the news release said.


“The loss of Japan, one of Canada’s most valuable markets, would jeopardize 20 per cent of our current global export value for meats, 14,000 jobs and forfeit our sector’s ability to contribute to the Government of Canada’s agri-food export goal of $75 billion by 2025,” the CMC said.