Glacier FarmMedia – The Canadian Cattle Association (CCA) has adopted a different tone and approach to trade.
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It’s going to defend Canada’s beef industry and food production system to the hilt.
“Just because another country does something in a specific way doesn’t mean we have to adopt that,” said Nathan Phinney, CCA president.
“One thing we need to realize is we’re in Canada. We have a world class (beef production) system, a world-class product and producers that do a world class job. We have to stand up for what we do in Canada and be proud of what we do.”
Why it matters: Canada’s beef sector has not benefitted from the CETA trade agreement.
Phinney didn’t mention it directly, but he was referring to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) — the free trade deal between Canada and the European Union.
Over the last five years, European officials have told the Canadian government and cattle industry leaders that they oppose certain practices in Canada’s beef production system.
For example, they won’t accept carcass washes used at Canadian packing plants.
For several years after 2017, when CETA came into force, Canada’s beef sector listened to the Europeans and tried to resolve the technical and regulatory issues so the EU would accept Canadian beef.
But the conversations went nowhere.
So, the CCA has shifted from a conciliatory tone and adopted a direct message — Canada’s beef production system is trustworthy, reliable and safe, full stop.
“We have a lot of trade options… and we have people who accept our systems, and rightfully so. We run a world class system,” said Phinney, who raises cattle near Sackville, N.B.
“Yes… there are always things you can do to improve. But we will 100 per cent stand up for everything we do on the landscape, processing, food safety and so on.”
Phinney and other leaders in Canada’s cattle industry are clearly frustrated, five and a half years into a what they see is a bad trade deal with the EU.
CETA was supposed to open up the massive European market to Canadian beef, but the opposite happened.
Countries like Spain, Ireland and Italy are taking advantage of CETA, shipping tens of millions in beef to Canada annually. In 2022, the EU exported $114 million worth of beef to Canada.
Meanwhile, Canadian exports to Europe have grown slowly since 2017 — even though Europe is a major importer of beef. In some years, it imports nearly $3 billion worth of beef.
In 2022, Canada exported $22 million in beef to Europe but has struggled to get product into major countries. For instance:
- From January to November last year, Canada exported $388,000 worth of beef to Germany.
- In that same time period, Canada exported $2.2 million worth of beef to Bahrain — a country with 1.5 million people.
In 2022, the beef trade deficit with Europe reached nearly $100 million. For pork, it’s even worse. Last year the EU shipped $285 million in pork to Canada and Canada exported $1 million to Europe.
“Five years of data clearly show the imbalance of what’s been (happening),” Phinney said.
“The (United Kingdom), if you look at last year, $33 million worth of (beef) coming in and we essentially sent nothing to (them)…. I think we have some leverage now. This is what we’ve been talking about and we’re not going to… let it continue.”
The CCA employed its direct approach to trade this spring, when the U.K. wanted to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade agreement involving Pacific Rim countries.
The association and the Canadian government held up British entry into the deal, demanding the U.K. recognize Canada’s food safety system and open its market to Canadian beef. Eventually, CPTPP countries decided that Canada and Britain should work out a bilateral arrangement, a side deal, to sort out issues with agricultural trade.
The CCA was disappointed with that decision, but it continues to push for fair access to the British market.
“If the Government of Canada brings a ratification bill (for Britain joining CPTPP) to Parliament without addressing the U.K. barriers to Canadian beef, CCA will approach all parliamentarians to defeat that bill,” said Phinney in March.
Speaking to Glacier FarmMedia last month, Phinney said the CCA stance on Britain is the right approach.
“I think it’s one of the hardest stands we’ve taken, in recent times,” he said.
“We made it abundantly clear to the government, until we get full systems approval for some of these regulatory issues… it doesn’t matter what we have for quota because we will not get product in…. Until these issues are resolved, we are going to oppose any assertion of the U.K. joining the CPTPP.”
– This article was originally published at The Western Producer.
Net beef trade with the EU & U.K.
The beef trade deficit with Europe reached $92 million in 2022, but trade flows have changed in 2023:
- In 2022, Canada exported $22 million in beef to the European Union and imported $114 million for a net-import value of $92 million.
- In 2023, as of the end of April, the EU shipped $25 million in beef to Canada and Canada exported $10.6 million to Europe for a net import value of $14.4 million.
- Beef imports from the United Kingdom totalled $33 million in 2022 and $3.7 million from January to April 2023.
- Canada exported no beef to the U.K. in 2022 and 2023.
Sources above: CanFax, Statistics Canada
