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While a draft deal was released
in October, Foreign Affairs, Trade
and Development Canada said
housekeeping details like translation
and inclusion of legal language would
happen over the following 18 to 24
months before the deal would be
finalized and take effect.
For Canadian agriculture, most
consider the deal a
win. Once CETA is
signed, 93.6 per cent
of agricultural tariffs
will be eliminated, with
immediate elimination
of tariffs on some
processed pulses and
grains, beef products
and pork products.
Durum and high-
quality common
wheat tariffs, currently
unbound and applied
at zero per cent, are
now at a rate of $190 per tonne and $122
per tonne, respectively. Duties for low-
to medium-quality common wheat are
currently levied at $122 a tonne, rye and
barley at $120 a tonne, and oats at $114
a tonne. All of these grain tariffs will be
eliminated over a seven-year transition
period.
CETA will also create a duty-free,
low- to medium-quality common wheat
transitional quota of 100,000 tonnes,
incorporating Canada's existing 38,853-
tonne share of the EU global quota.
Doug Sawyer, chair of the Alberta
Beef Producers, said he sees nothing but
positives for his members. For Canadian
livestock producers, CETA means duty-
free, in-quota access for 50,000 tonnes
of beef carcass weight, with the majority
for fresh, chilled beef products, and
another 15,000 tonnes carcass weight for
frozen products.
“It’s a big opportunity,” Sawyer said.
“We're looking at 65,000 tonnes in
tariff-free imports,” an increase that will
triple current levels. The rise in exports
of Canadian beef to the EU will be in the
fresh and frozen beef product sectors,
he said.
ccording to Canada's
minister of international
trade, cohesiveness among
stakeholders is the key that unlocked
this country's successful position
in the Canada–European Union
Comprehensive Economic Trade
Agreement (CETA).
Minister Ed Fast added that provinces,
territories, municipalities and stakeholder
groups showed "unprecedented
co-operation" in laying the framework
for what eventually became Canada's
offering in CETA.
“Canadians can look back on this
and be reassured there was such
overwhelming support because of the
involvement of stakeholder groups,” Fast
said in a recent interview.
The CETA agreement in principle
gives Canada guaranteed preferential
access to 28 EU states. That's 500 million
people with an annual economic activity
of almost $17 trillion—the world’s largest
economy. The EU is also the world’s
largest importing market for goods— its
annual imports are worth more than
Canada’s GDP, which totalled just over
$1.8 trillion in 2012. This is the most
ambitious trade agreement Canada has
signed since the North American Free
Trade Agreement in 1994. According
to the federal government, CETA is the
economic equivalent of adding $1,000 to
the average Canadian family’s income or
almost 80,000 new jobs to the Canadian
economy.
CETA was announced in October
2013 by the Canadian and European
governments after four-and-a-half years
of talks. Some of that time, Fast said,
was spent reaching agreements among
Canadian stakeholders. He explained
that while it appeared to the public that
EU negotiations dragged on, Canadian
stakeholders continued to work together
behind the scenes.
“[In mid-2012,] that agreement
internally wasn’t at the point to take to
the EU,” he said, noting the continued
discussions by domestic stakeholders
meant “their input informed the
outcome.”
Trade agreements can be good news
to the industry, but the benefits they
bring to local farms are more difficult
to calculate. Sawyer said the increased
trade opportunities for fresh and frozen
beef products is bound to result in
increased processing at current plants
that, to this point, have not had enough
meat to process. It may also mean the
opening of new
processing facilities.
Sawyer explained
that, with 200 different
products from one
carcass, less-expensive
cuts tend to have
limited markets.
However, once CETA
is signed, there will be
potential for greater
ease of access to more
markets, as well as
reduced tariffs. That
means the door has
opened to hard returns for the farmer, he
said.
“This adds value to the whole carcass,”
he added.
The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) said
it's very pleased with CETA, as Canada
would acquire a quota volume equivalent
to over 80,000 tonnes of pork cuts, as
well as access to markets for pork fat, and
cured and processed pork products.
“The Canadian and EU markets for
pork complement each other and
this relationship holds great potential
to enhance our sector’s export
opportunities, as well as benefit workers,
businesses and families who rely on the
pork sector for their livelihood,” said CPC
chair Jean-Guy Vincent.
Canada’s pork industry exports
two-thirds of its production. CPC said
that diversification in export marketing
opportunities is crucial to maintaining
the industry. Canada currently imports
a significant volume of high-value pork
ribs from the EU, and the pork industry
sees the market opportunity for shipping
hams and other pork cuts to the EU.
“Our current exports of pork cuts
to the EU are virtually non-existent.
Winter
2014
Grains
West
24
The CETA agreement
in principle gives
Canada guaranteed
preferential access to
28 EU states. That's
500 million people
with an annual
economic activity of
almost $17 trillion.