Thank you very much. Bonjour. Good morning.
My name is Martin Rice. I'm a director of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance. I represent the Canadian Pork Council, and I am pleased to be here on CAFTA's behalf to speak to committee members on the Canada-European Union comprehensive economic and trade agreement, or CETA.
CAFTA, as perhaps all of you are aware, is a coalition of national and regional producer groups and industry associations in support of open and transparent conditions for international trade of agrifood products. Taken collectively, our members account for roughly 80% of Canada's annual agrifood exports.
CAFTA was able to immediately and unequivocally voice its support of the agreement in principle on CETA when Prime Minister Harper and European Commission President Barroso announced it on October 18 last year.
CETA secures real and substantial access to one of the world's few multi-billion dollar agrifood export markets and importantly, it does so ahead of our major competitors. We concur with the observation made by many international trade experts that the Canada-EU trade deal, when implemented, will be Canada's most significant trade agreement since NAFTA. CETA covers a significant range of issues, including tariffs, non-tariff barriers, services and investment, financial services, government procurement, and much more.
Very significantly and for the first time in the history of Canada's trade deals, CETA covers issues that fall within the jurisdiction of provincial governments, leading to Canada's 13 provinces and territories having played a significant and important role during the negotiation process. We compliment them on their contributions in this precedent-setting international negotiation.
The European Union, with Croatia's accession in 2013, now includes 28 individual countries, whose combined population exceeds 500 million.
Today, Canada ships just $2.4 billion in agriculture and food products to the EU, only about 5% of our total. CETA offers tremendous potential for our members. Canada's exports really should be much higher. l would like to share with you a sample of CAFTA members' projections of the additional opportunities that are seen to be provided by CETA. The Canola Council of Canada estimates the deal will provide that sector's exporters the opportunity to increase sales by up to $90 million.
The Canadian Cattlemen's Association points to new duty-free access for almost 65,000 tonnes of beef at a value they estimate to be nearly $600 million.
Opportunities from CETA for the grain sector are seen to be both direct and indirect. The Western Grain Elevator Association has identified duty-free wheat sales on top of the grain utilized in feed for livestock to meet the increased EU demand for Canadian meat.
The Canadian Meat Council, which represents meat processors, has pointed out that the value of EU agricultural imports has increased by some 145% in just over a decade, from 2000 to 2012. It sees important export growth opportunities for bison, veal, and prepared meats in addition to pork and beef.
The sugar industry, through the Canadian Sugar Institute, expects CETA will secure an additional $100 million in exports of sugar-containing products to the European Union.
My own organization, the Canadian Pork Council, representing Canada's hog producers, has projected, based on existing market intelligence and the anticipated market opportunities for specific cuts of pork, that this deal could, in a few short years, lead to annual sales from Canada to the EU of $400 million.
Taken together, we believe the Canada-European Union comprehensive economic and trade agreement, when fully implemented, could result in $1.5 billion in new Canadian agrifood exports to the EU.
On the day of implementation of CETA, tariffs on almost 94% of Canada's agrifood exports to the EU will be eliminated effective immediately. Over the course of the implementation period, virtually all tariffs, other than for beef and pork, will also be eliminated.
Also contributing to the value of CETA for the Canadian agrifood industry is the fact that the negotiations have gone beyond tariffs, taking on a wide range of non-tariff issues critical to Canada's agriculture and food exporters.
CETA has included discussion in areas such as technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary issues, regulatory cooperation, and export subsidies. These issues can often be the most significant barriers facing our exports, as important even, in some cases, as the tariffs themselves in the case of the European Union.
CETA has established mechanisms that will promote cooperation and discussion on regulatory issues and non-tariff barriers that impede trade. Through CETA, Canada and the EU have also committed to work together to advance a number of non-tariff issues, including approval of meat processing facilities and timely approval of biotech traits. These and other issues still need to be more fully resolved before CETA is implemented, but we are confident that the Canadian government is committed to doing that.
It is my own view that Canadian agriculture and food exporters have individually and collectively through CAFTA invested significantly more time and effort on assisting Canada in achieving a favourable outcome from CETA negotiations than for any other set of trade negotiations. We firmly believe CETA provides the net national benefit to Canada that merits this agreement being finalized and implemented. We look forward to continued support of the federal and provincial governments in achieving these outcomes.
Thank you very much.