Agriculture committee  Yes, really quickly, one of the things we've done very well as an industry is we've promoted our product. I like to think that my competitors in the United States and Brazil sell protein. I sell a product. I sell Canadian pork, and we've created a demand for that product in our marketplace.

Agriculture committee  One of the other things we need to be aware of is that non-tariff trade barriers—this is a bit of a different way to look at this—can also be the result of an attitude. One of the concerns I have both as a producer and as an exporter of product is with the resurgence of protectionism in the U.S. attitude.

Agriculture committee  The situation we have right now with Europe is we're very excited and happy to see that market opening up. The level of pork that we produce, the quality of the product, the level of our food safety standards, our traceability programs and everything will meet EU standards. Because of Japan, we are in a position to access that market and we can meet those requirements.

Agriculture committee  COOL is the classic and perfect example of a non-tariff trade barrier. It is a regulatory requirement imposed upon us in the United States. It serves absolutely no discernible purpose in regard to enhanced food safety or product awareness, and it is there, in my opinion, specifically to reduce access to that market.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. Absolutely, I think that the more resources and effort that the Canadian government puts into identifying and then dealing with non-tariff trade barriers, the better off we are. One of the things in the pork industry that we would love to see is a better-funded and better-staffed Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Agriculture committee  Feel free to step in, if you want. The situation we have now in Canada is that we, as an industry, have made a decision to voluntarily remove the use of ractopamine as an additive in our country as a whole. It doesn't matter if it's the domestic, foreign, or export market, we do not use the product in our pork-producing systems.

Agriculture committee  Good morning. Thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee and for your continued attention to the international market access for Canadian pork. My name is Hans Kristensen. I am a producer from New Brunswick and the Maritimes' representative on the Canadian Pork Council's board of directors.

International Trade committee  I'd like to add to that. As far as the hog industry is concerned, British Columbia, while it doesn't have a large hog industry in production, does have in its possession a couple of smaller plants that have the ability to process product and to adapt to specialty products. On free trade, one of the things I mentioned earlier was niche marketing, so British Columbia can benefit hugely from continued and enhanced free trade in NAFTA simply by being able to process and move those products.

International Trade committee  The pork industry is a very complex and integrated industry. I'd say that I can hold my own in any market in the world, as any Canadian pork producer does. When you look at the total volume of pork we produce and export into the United States compared to the total volume of pork produced and consumed in the U.S., essentially we are supplying a niche market in some cases.

International Trade committee  I'll be really quick. I've never operated farms in Mexico, but I have operated hog production facilities in both Canada and the United States, and yes, there are differences. There are certain cost advantages in the U.S., and there are certain cost and health advantages in Canada.

International Trade committee  I have a lot of experience dealing with the United States. For the period 2005 to 2016 we exported animals into the U.S. and raised them ourselves on contract facilities in Indiana and Ohio. I have thus been on both sides of the border as a producer and have also been both an exporter of live hogs into the U.S. and an importer of live hogs from Canada into the United States.

International Trade committee  I can only speak for our own organization, but our organization was very strict on biosecurity and we did no backhauling of any type whatsoever.We were completely, 100%, our own transportation, our own biosecurity, and our trucks only transported our product one way.

International Trade committee  It's a very similar situation. We face the exact same situation. Once we clear the border, we still go to the independent houses. Those are independently owned, with USDA inspectors, and it's exactly the same situation. Anything we can do in negotiations to further align our regulatory environment so that we're recognizing their inspection process more fully and they are recognizing our inspection process more fully and allowing our product to flow from buyer to customer more freely would be greatly advantageous.

International Trade committee  I'm the general manager of Metz Farms Ltd in New Brunswick.

International Trade committee  In New Canaan, New Brunswick.