2 Years in, CETA Not Delivering for Agri-Food Exporters

Sep 26, 2019

Ottawa, Ontario – Marking two years since the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) came into force, the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) is urging Canadian and European lawmakers to enforce the provisions and commitments agreed upon to ensure trade flows freely and barriers are removed. CAFTA representatives are meeting with senior Canadian and EU officials this week to discuss the wide gap between the promises of CETA what the reality is for agri-food exporters.

Quick facts

Access for Canadian agrifood products was a core benefit for Canada in the CETA.
Technical and non-tariff barriers are effectively shutting out a significant portion of Canadian agri-food exports from the huge EU market.
Since the entry into force of the agreement, EU exports to Canada have increased by over 10 percent while Canadian agri-food exports have decreased by the same amount, increasing the trade deficit to $3.5 billion in favour of EU exporters.
The EU market has the potential to result in significant benefits for agri-food exporters: the agreement could drive additional exports of $1.5 billion annually.
While increases are recorded for some grain exports to the EU from eastern Canada, overall durum wheat exports into Italy, one of Canada’s top grain exports to the EU, have been cut in half since the introduction of Italian mandatory country of origin labelling regulations.
Canadian pork and beef exports to the EU increased by 107% and 113% respectively in 2018 from a year earlier. However, they were starting from a very small base and overall volumes remain well under what was promised.
More work remains to be done to facilitate Canadian agri-food exporters taking full advantage of the agreement. Such work includes achieving mutual recognition of meat processing systems, developing protocols to verify livestock production practices, addressing misaligned regulation of crop protection products, more predictable and timely review of seed technologies and ensuring country of origin labeling requirements are not applied in a trade restrictive manner.

Source : CAFTA

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.