Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Honourable committee members, Canada Pork International is the export marketing development agency of the Canadian pork industry. It is a joint initiative of the Canadian Pork Council and of the Canadian Meat Council. Its membership includes the national and provincial associations of hog producers, as well as federal federally registered pork packing establishments and trading companies.
We are thankful for being given the opportunity to express our views on the current free trade agreement negotiations between Canada and Colombia.
Traditionally, Canada has been the largest pork supplier to the Caribbean, to Central America and to Colombia. Over the years, we were able to get Colombia to recognize our plant inspection and export certification procedures. In practice, all Canadian federally-registered establishments can export to Colombia.
Recently, our trade position has been seriously eroded by a series of free trade agreements concluded with the USA to the point that the Americans have now become the largest foreign pork suppliers in Central America and in Colombia.
In 2006, Canadian pork exports to Colombia reached a peak of 3,245 tonnes, worth $3.4 million. Although total Colombian pork imports are increasing, our exports to that country declined in 2007 to 2,520 tonnes, worth $3.0 million
Economic conditions in Colombia are improving quickly; so is the demand for pork products. Unfortunately, unless Canada enters into a free trade agreement with Colombia, our industry is very likely to be out of that market soon. Colombia's WTO tariff bindings on pork range from 70% to 108%. Colombia's applied tariff rates range from 20% to 30% on some products. The U.S.-Colombia FTA provides for tariff phase-outs on most key pork products within five years. This will provide a tremendous advantage to our U.S. competitors.
The Canadian pork industry has let it be known to the Canadian negotiators that we need an agreement that would be as close as possible to what the Americans got, in order to remain competitive in Colombia. As most of you are aware, our industry is currently in a difficult situation, and we cannot afford to lose any markets of significance, such as Colombia. Therefore, our industry is fully supportive of the current negotiations and strongly wishes that a favourable FTA could be successfully negotiated with Colombia in the very short term. It is our understanding that the committee is studying the current negotiations with a focus on how environmental impacts and human rights concerns are addressed in trade agreements.
We looked at the U.S.-Colombia FTA and we noticed that it includes a strong commitment towards internationally recognized labour rights and environmental protection. In our view, it should be easy to negotiate the same commitments in a Canada-Colombia free trade agreement.
Thank you for your attention.