International Trade committee  I will, very quickly, just to mention the case you brought up of Colombia. With Colombia—correct me if I'm wrong—the balance of trade wasn't very close to what we were selling or what we were exporting to that country and what they were sending back. Isn't it a direct representation of the opportunities that the FTA has created for them as well?

International Trade committee  Definitely. Thank you for the question. Yes, the FDA has allowed us to expand the number of meat plants that become eligible to export to this market. We used to have a very limited number of plants that were able to do so. With this agreement, it is all the CFIA-inspected plants that can manufacture products and export them to this market.

International Trade committee  I'd say it's significant for the type of items we could sell over there, yes, and pretty much as for the potato industry, we would like to see this effect being expanded all over Central America. We have already an agreement with Colombia, with Panama. CA4 didn't go through, but again, if we continue to develop this work on a bilateral level, we could achieve even more, and not just based on the specific country case that we're analyzing right now, but more on a regional scale.

International Trade committee  I guess I'll just replicate what my colleagues from the potato industry mentioned. Basically the FTA benefits the very base, the very foundation of the producing sector, as well as farmers, distributors, transporters by train, truck, or you name it. It even benefits financial services, insurance, and credit industries.

International Trade committee  I'd say that in the case of the pork meat industry, you're right. When you think about pork chops and loins and high-end items, the market is not there: right. But there are items in this market that we don't sell domestically, and we have to look for an option. We have to look for an export market for these items.

International Trade committee  It is clear that the world is always changing and the markets have to always adapt to the circumstances out there in terms of the political, economic, and financial restraints imposed on them. You're right when you say that Russia is a big market for us. It's probably our third-largest market in volume and in value, but right now China is achieving that level of importance for us.

International Trade committee  That's correct, yes.

International Trade committee  First of all, as I mentioned, in 2006 we almost completely lost the market. Since then we've been trying hard to gain something back; however, our market share is pretty minimal. If we manage to get preferential access, we'll be able to take some market share from the U.S. We estimate it's going to happen between 10% and 12%.

International Trade committee  No, that would be a direct input from the FTA, definitely. You're right, there is a restraint on the supply of pork worldwide, but that hasn't actually stopped Canada from being able to serve many markets. We're present in the major markets out there. I guess that's in major part because we still have good pricing.

International Trade committee  Thank you. Honourable members of Parliament, I'll introduce myself really quickly. I am the director for Latin America of Canada Pork International. I'll describe what CPI is and what we do in the pork industry. Canada Pork International, CPI, is the export market development agency of the Canadian pork industry.

International Trade committee  Definitely, that would be a result of—

International Trade committee  As I mentioned previously, having a regional agreement would allow us to probably review bilateral agreements and therefore improve on those market access conditions, such as veterinary and sanitary protocols, TRQ management imposed by some countries, and grade reductions.

International Trade committee  In regard to the Canadian pork industry, I can tell you that that may not be the case.

International Trade committee  It would not be the case, actually. One of the things we try to use as a defence, as a promotional statement abroad, is our craftsmanship. We put a lot of emphasis on quality and product specification, and this is unique to Canada.

International Trade committee  If those tariffs were lifted, we could see probably a growth in exports of between 30% to 50%. That is because our main competitor, the U.S., has a higher tariff rate imposed on their exports. If I remember correctly, I think this year the U.S. rate is 18%. Because the FTA between Canada and Colombia started a year previously to the American one, we have benefited from that difference in the rates.