Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We certainly appreciate the opportunity to meet with you this morning to discuss the serious situation the Canadian livestock sector is facing at this time.
As you know, a number of factors have come to bear that are putting major financial pressure on our producers.
Governments and industry are very engaged on this issue. When they met in November, federal-provincial-territorial ministers agreed to develop a joint industry-government action plan to address these challenges and to support the long-term profitability of the sector.
Coming out of a follow-up discussion on December 13, ministers announced the first stage in a national action plan to help Canada's livestock producers.
Through the new suite of business risk management programs, ministers agreed to accelerate access to payments under AgriStability through targeted advance payments and interim payments, to expedite the delivery of the $600 million in federal funding to Kickstart AgriInvest accounts, and to make available an additional $1 billion in loans to livestock producers across Canada through improvements to the advance payments program.
Governments are currently working with administering producer organizations to ensure that these loans are available as needed. Targeted advance payments have already been triggered for hog producers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Interim payments are available for those who are not eligible for a targeted advance payment.
As you are no doubt aware, an error occurred in the TAP letters that went out to Saskatchewan producers earlier this month. The department sincerely regrets this error. We know producers are under a great deal of stress right now, and this error could not have come at a worse time. We have taken steps to ensure this never happens again.
That said, we also know that timely access to produce program payments is critical for producers at this time. Fast-tracking delivery of payments through existing programs remains our goal. To this end, we are currently working with the provinces to fast-track 2008 AgriStability TAP payments, 2008 interim payments, and 2007 final payments. AgriInvest Kickstart payments have been deposited into producers' accounts.
AgriStability, the new margin-based income stabilization program for large income losses, includes many improvements requested by the livestock sector, such as broader eligibility criteria for negative margin coverage, the targeted advance payment mechanism to respond to disaster situations, and a better method of valuing inventories. These changes are helping to ensure the program is more responsive to losses in the sector.
In fact, from late 2007 through to 2008, nearly $1.5 billion in cash payments is expected to flow to livestock producers through existing and new programs. There is also up to $1 billion in additional amounts available to the livestock sector through enhancements to the advance payments program.
We fully recognize that competitiveness is key to the survival of our pork and beef industries. Under the action plan, ministers have committed to work with industry to improve Canada's export market position to enhance competitiveness and profitability by modernizing and streamlining regulations.
The Government of Canada is working closely with the beef and pork value chain round tables to address the issue of increased global competition and development of export trade. Everyone at the table agrees on the vital importance of improving market access to key red meat markets; these include Mexico, South Korea, and Japan. Just last week, for instance, Minister Ritz was in Mexico, pursuing normalization of livestock and beef trade with Mexico.
To summarize, Mr. Chair, we're working closely with provinces and industry to respond to the pressures facing our livestock producers, both through program acceleration and enhancements and through action internationally to improve industry's competitiveness.
We're certainly very appreciative of this opportunity to share ideas and chart the best way forward for beef and pork producers.
Thank you. Merci.