With the ink still drying on a trade agreement that was supposed to reduce barriers to trade, a protectionist measure has shut out one of Canada’s largest single product exports to Europe. Durum wheat shipments from Canada to Italy have been halted since October, shortly after the Italian government announced it was moving ahead with… Read More
Earlier this week, China agreed to expand access for Canadian beef, committing to establishing the documentation requirements and fully implementing the 2016 bone-in beef agreement. The country also agreed to establish a pilot project to allow chilled beef and pork imports from Canada. China agrees to pilot project for chilled Canadian beef and pork John… Read More
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has made a change to its labeling rules for packers that moves the Canadian pork industry a step closer to benefitting from the Canada-European Union trade agreement. A change to the CFIA Manual of Procedures will now allow packers to apply EU health mark labels after meat has been… Read More
American requests for changes to Canada’s supply management system for dairy and poultry are a “non-starter,” said Canada’s agriculture minister on Monday. U.S. negotiators introduced an initial dairy proposal on Friday, which calls for increased transparency and changes to Canada’s milk class system, including the elimination of the new class 7 that has taken away… Read More
The provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union (EU) officially started this week, which had the Canadian trade team in Brussels actually jumping for joy. But the work is far from over, as technical barriers are holding the agriculture and agri-food industry back from reaching their full… Read More
Canada’s dairy processors and producers say the federal government has “failed to adequately support its dairy sector” after announcing plans for the allocation of cheese import licenses through the Canada-European Union trade deal (CETA). Canada agreed to tariff rate quotas for nearly 18 million kilograms of annual cheese imports in CETA under two categories: 16… Read More
There’s a reluctance among the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) signatories to walk away from all the progress made with the deal, even though the United States has withdrawn its involvement with the deal. And while Claire Citeau, with the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, is disappointed with the TPP deal proper being hamstrung, she says last week’s meeting… Read More
It was a great week for Canada in terms of trade on several fronts. You can say many negative things about Prime Minister Trudeau, but you cannot take away his government’s effort to extend Harper’s commitment to trade. There is much discussion and renegotiation to still happen, but the week of February 13th was very good for… Read More
Despite the protectionist rhetoric coming from President Trump, the trade critic for the federal Conservatives sounds hopeful — even optimistic — about Canada’s trading relationship with the United States. “It’s fine to say you want to put America first. It’s fine to say you want to create jobs at home, but at the end of… Read More
This is an editorial column written by Brian Innes, president of CAFTA (Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance): Threats to rip up NAFTA and trash the TPP send a chill down the spines of Canadians whose livelihoods depend on trade. And while the Trump administration’s action plan is not yet clear, it is crystal clear that Canada’s… Read More
The federal government is committing $350 million to helping the dairy sector adjust to increased import competition under the Canada-European Union trade deal (CETA). Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay announced two new programs at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa on Thursday. $250 million over five years will be made available to producers to update their… Read More
A photo surfaced yesterday showing former federal trade minister Ed Fast and current federal minister of international trade Chrystia Freeland sharing a full-on hug in the House of Commons at Ottawa. Wait a minute…how can this be? Fast is a Conservative with the former ruling government. Freeland is with the still-shiny-new current Liberal government. Aren’t they supposed… Read More
Just over a week after Canada’s Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland stormed out of trade talks uttering words like “impossible” and “incapable,” there she was with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday signing off on a final version of the massive agreement. The treaty now heads back to the governments of the 28 EU member states… Read More
Canadian farm groups are welcoming the signing of the Canada-European Union trade deal on the weekend. Seven years after negotiations began, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Council President Donald Tusk, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker signed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) at a ceremony in Brussels on Sunday. “Seeing Canada’s largest… Read More
It appears the Canada-European Union trade deal is back on track, as the Belgian government has reached a deal to support CETA. After days of negotiating, Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel says they were able to reach an agreement with the region of Wallonia that provides guarantees for the agriculture sector and changes to the… Read More