Thank you very much.
Rick has done a really excellent job of covering a lot of the ground, so I'll try to cut back on my presentation, because we are entirely in sync—the Canola Council and the Canola Growers Association—in terms of the policy issues that Rick worked through there.
Good afternoon. I represent the Canola Council of Canada.
I will just make a brief mention of the council. It is a value chain organization that represents the entire canola sector in Canada, so the same 43,000 growers that Rick represents are part of the Canola Council of Canada, as well as the seed developers, the crushers who process the seed into oil and meal, and the exporters who export canola as a grain for processing at its destination. The Canola Council is a vehicle through which the industry comes together to set objectives and implement plans for the entire sector.
Canola returns the highest value to farmers of any crop in Canada. The industry supports 228,000 jobs, and as Rick mentioned, contributes $15.4 billion to the Canadian economy annually. Our industry has doubled production in the last 10 years. This expansion has brought with it significant investment in rural communities. For example, there has been more than $1.6 billion spent in crushing and processing capacity over the last six years, reflecting the confidence in the opportunity provided by the sector.
Importantly, this income and this economic impact are generated mostly from international trade. More than 85% of the canola we produce in Canada is exported as seed, oil, or meal, bringing in close to $10 billion from exports in 2012. Our industry provides a heart-healthy canola oil and a high-quality animal feed protein to the markets that want it the most.
Our industry succeeds because we are competitive internationally. We've done best in markets that are free of tariffs and non-tariff barriers, where we can compete evenly. Government, through diplomacy and trade negotiations, has a very big role to play in growing and maintaining market access. The government's support of international trade and market access for canola and other agricultural commodities is welcomed by our sector.
Getting the most value from international markets by removing trade barriers means more economic growth, more jobs, and more prosperity for communities across Canada. This is what the TPP offers our industry—more value from international markets by eliminating tariffs and by making trade more predictable with science-based regulation.
I'll talk for just for a moment on trade. Our primary focus in the TPP would be to eliminate any tariffs that remain for canola seed, oil, and meal. Tariffs tax our exports and make them more expensive for consumers in the importing country. It's important to the canola industry that canola is competitive with other oil seeds and that tariffs for oil and meal—value-added products—are not higher than for seed. Eliminating tariffs is the base for a strong canola in export markets. Major markets for canola in the U.S., Mexico, and Japan have all developed in zero-tariff environments.
Japan, for example, has been a long-term and valued customer for canola seed. Our exporters have tariff-free access and can compete with other oil seeds. The result has been that canola has a very high market share in Japan. More than 40% of all vegetable oil consumed in Japan is canola oil, but as Rick mentioned earlier, we've shipped practically no oil to Japan because of restrictive tariffs, and this means that the economic activity that I was talking about earlier, with the new investment in Canada in crushing facilities associated with value-added processing, happens in Japan and not in Canada. The TPP provides an opportunity to address tariff escalation in some countries.
I was also going to speak about a number of the same issues related to non-tariff trade barriers that Rick spoke to. These include low-level presence policies for accessing markets, guaranteed access to markets in a world where there are more and more GM—genetically modified—products, and maximum residue levels. But Rick has outlined those pretty clearly, so I think that perhaps I'll skip that and just come to the conclusion.
I would just reinforce that access to international markets without trade barriers is critical to the canola industry. Canada's participation in free trade negotiations with 11 trade partners is very welcome. We call on the committee to recommend that our Canadian negotiators seek an agreement that eliminates tariffs on canola and canola products. That includes enforceable sanitary and phytosanitary commitments, and commitments to facilitate trade in the areas of crop protection products and biotechnology.
With that, I look forward to questions, Mr. Chairman.