Good morning, and thank you to the committee for inviting me today.
The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, CAFTA, is a coalition of national organizations that advocate for a freer and more inclusive international trading environment specifically for the agriculture and agri-food sector.
CAFTA’s membership includes farmers, ranchers, producers, and producers and exporters from major agri-food sectors such as beef, pork, grains, oilseeds, sugar, pulses and soybeans.
CAFTA represents the 90% of Canadian farmers, producers, processors and agri-food exporters who rely on access to global markets. Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine has, of course, had very negative effects on global agricultural markets, global food security and nutrition. My knowledge of the dynamics of the war and its regional effects come only from reading the media, so I'm not qualified to comment on that.
However, I would like to underline a few points that the war has brought home from the perspective of Canada's producers.
The first point is that interrupting the free flow of agricultural products leads to worse nutritional outcomes for the world's poor. Trade is not just about farmers and people employed along the food supply chain; trade also contributes to reducing food insecurity across the globe, including by buffering the impact of shocks such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Trade serves as the bridge to get food from where it is grown to where it is needed. In doing so, trade enables food security while creating economic opportunities for producers, farmers and SMEs. Trade is also a key factor in the sustainable and efficient use of scarce global resources.
My second point is that the conflict has significantly undermined the global rules-based order, creating greater uncertainty for Canadian producers. This is difficult for middle powers, like Canada, that have depended on this rules-based order. CAFTA believes that Canada must continue to work to reinforce the multilateral trading system to keep markets open as much as possible, thereby limiting the knock-on effects of shocks such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The last point I want to make is that we should not respond to global uncertainty by turning inward and limiting our economic relations to countries with the same views. The best way for Canada to achieve economic resilience is to open markets, not close them. For example, the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance strongly supports the Government of Canada’s efforts to expand into growing markets in the Indo-Pacific region, including the opening of the Indo-Pacific Agriculture and Agri-Food office in Manila.
I would be pleased to answer questions from members.