Timeliness is key for industry members
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The enactment of a new trade deal offers market assurance for Canada’s pork industry, said Andrew Dickson, the general manager of Manitoba Pork, in a Friday Farmscape
article.
Bill C-79, legislation to implement the Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP),
earned Royal Assent on Thursday and the Government of Canada will soon approve it. Canadian pork producers will benefit from the trade deal as it will lead to an instant decrease in tariffs, Dickson said in the article.
Manitoba’s pork producers will have the opportunity to grow their operations, creating jobs on farms and in the meat processing sector, he said.
Manitoba farmers are an integral component of the Canadian pork production system, Dickson told Farms.com yesterday.
“The two agreements, the new NAFTA, and the new TPP, will benefit Canada as a whole,” he explained. “Product from Manitoba goes to plants in Ontario to be processed. Plants there package it and sell it. (Some of) the product comes back to the west, a big chunk stays in the east, and a big chunk from Manitoba is exported to Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Mexico and so on.
“We’re a major player in this,” he added.
“With the treaty now being ratified by Parliament, it means that industry now knows that this is a fixed deal,” he said to Farmscape. “They can start making long-term arrangements in terms of new investments in ramping up their production capacity.”
Timeliness in the ratification of the CPTPP is vital, Dickson emphasized.
“These markets are very important to us. (Industry members will) be able to put product into the marketplace with no tariffs, compared to some of the competitors that we have to deal with, such as Europe or Brazil or the United States.
“The more you can reduce uncertainty in the marketplace, the better,” he said.
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