The President of the Canadian Cattlemen Association is welcoming the new CETA Agreement with the EU.
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement was officially signed over the weekend in Brussels.
CCA President Dan Darling says the new trade agreement is key, noting it will eliminate EU tariffs on almost 94% of Canada's agri-food products.
"The former Conservative Government worked long and hard to start this deal and we appreciate the current Federal Government for continuing to work on our behalf to get these deals hammered out," he said. "In order for our producers to stay profitable we need to continue to access as many of these markets as we can."
Once some of the technical issues are settled, the EU market for Canadian beef could go from $6 to 10 million per year, up to $600 million.
Meanwhile, the chair of the Canadian Pork Council says he's glad to see the CETA negotiations finally cross the finish line.
Rick Bergmann says the deal will secure tariff free access for processed pork products and will acquire a quota volume equivalent to 80 thousand tonnes of pork cuts after a phased in period of five years.
“Canada is a globally competitive producer and exporter of pork and pork products," he said. "We have worked hard to develop a global reputation as a reliable supplier of safe, wholesome, high-quality pork. The key to sustaining our success, however, is the ability to access a wide variety of markets."
Source : Portageonline