Mr. Chairman, the hon. member comes from a small island province much the same as I do. In fact, I guess I can say I come from a bigger island than he does. The concerns he raises about the agricultural products from his island certainly are very legitimate.
As chair of the fisheries committee, he is also very much aware of the fact that we suffer the same way with the export of our fish products, especially to the European market. Unfortunately for both of us, the exports of agriculture and fisheries amount to only about 6.6% of our total exports, which means that even collectively they do not draw a lot of attention. The primary producers in the country, fishermen and farmers are left outside the vision of many of the people who worry about exports generally.
However our exports to the European Union only totals about 5%. Therefore, when we combine the small amounts of fish or agricultural products plus the small amount we send to the EU, no wonder the government perhaps does not worry too much about duties on Newfoundland shrimp going to the European market.
One problem we face with trade is Newfoundland shrimp which goes to the European market is charged a 20% tariff, when really it is not the EU that is concerned. Most of the countries in the EU would want no tariff to get a cheaper product. Denmark and, more specifically, one or two fishing companies within that country are concerned.
Does the member not think that the minister and the department should address many of these smaller trade issues outside of the World Trade Organization and not worry about having to wait for two, three or four years to get agreements? We cannot afford to wait that long. Some of these issues could be addressed by the minister at a political level, and I am sure a lot of our problems could be solved.