Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you all for inviting us to present.
This is certainly a major announcement for the seafood industry in Nova Scotia. I've been in this position for just over two years, and I can say it has been a number one priority for a large number of my membership.
Europe represents a huge seafood-consuming population. It is our second biggest trading partner to the U.S. when it comes to seafood, and it represents about 20% of our exports. We're talking about $200 million to $250 million a year. It's a nice chunk of change for the seafood business.
There has certainly been a continued following by my members over the last few months, in particular this summer, on some of the issues. We were scared. We showed our support by sending a letter to Minister Fast and our local MPs, Gerald Keddy and Greg Kerr, to continue our support and be willing to do whatever it took to get to this point.
When the deal in principle was signed, some of my members were so excited they asked if they should start looking at their inventory. I told them no, that we were still a little ways away. This is how enthusiastic they are. It's easy to understand. When you have duty rates that start around 6% and can end up at 23% to 25%, it certainly makes your seafood product far less attractive on a price-point issue. When you're competing with the likes of Norway and Iceland, it's certainly going to be advantageous.
Another aspect of this that has caused problems is repeated import quotas on certain species. I think of silver hake and salted cod. There is a small amount that gets in at a lower duty rate, but between fishing seasons and the logistics of storage, trying to play the quota game becomes costly. You've probably chewed up whatever benefits you're going to get, and you don't have control of your product anymore. In the fish business, “COD” isn't just fish.
Reducing and eliminating the tariffs will certainly make our products more attractive to the European customer base. We have been there for a long time, and our products are known, but to be able to compete on that level playing field is going to add to our ability to make money. Fish business is all about simple terms.
We've also been told that with this, we'll basically be able to skip the brokers and we'll have access directly to the retail market. Again, it's another way to compete, another way to be more profitable, and profit is a good thing. In an industry that's seen its instant profit with the U.S. dollar evaporate in the past decade, it is very encouraging to find a way to get some of that back.
It doesn't come without trying. People are sincerely putting their efforts in. I met one of our members, the principal of one of our companies, the other day. Usually I'd see him in a jacket and tie. It is very unlikely to see someone in the fish business in a jacket and tie, yet he's the one I see. Some of you may know him, Jean Guy d'Entremont. I saw him last week on the wharf in rubber boots, a hoodie, a jacket, in the rain. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, “Well, this is my normal day at work.” That's how people are doing this.
I speak in simple terms, trying to keep everybody.... When this comes out, my members will read this.
Basically, increasing the value means more money for coastal communities. That's a positive. That's going to come in terms of steadier employment, increased employment in the shore-based plants, something that we've seen wither away since the early 1990s, and it's something that really can provide jobs. They're good jobs. They pay better than minimum wage as a rule. Usually they're not far from your home, and you know you'll get paid. You have a little more flexibility.
Another aspect of this is resource pricing. If we see tariffs go down, it means our sale prices can stay the same and we can have a trickle-down effect. It's not going to just affect big businesses; this is going to affect small and medium-sized shore businesses. Ultimately it will affect the harvesters on the water, and they are some of the hardest-working people you'll ever meet.
Another positive aspect that we're finding is the most favoured nation status. As we hear the Americans are now entering into their round of talks, we know we're on a level playing field. That's a great idea. Coming from a background in brokerage and having spent time doing customs entries, I understand full well what kind of benefit that can mean. To see this as part of the trade deal is a positive. No one is going to have a leg-up on us from this point forward.
There are some concerns. Access to resources was echoed in the days following the announcement. I am confident in DFO policy to make sure that foreign interests do not have access to our resources inside the 200-mile limit.
I've gone through the NAFTA process. Oddly enough, I've read that document twice. It's not as boring as my mortgage, but it's close. There were a lot of those similar fears as we went into NAFTA. Are they going to come and take our water, or what are they going to take? At the end of the day, they didn't take anything and they can't take anything. I'm hoping that's the way we're going to go forward with CETA.
With the EU representing that much, this is a major deal for Nova Scotia. We've seen the lobster industry suffer. We've seen resources and allocations for groundfish cut. We need some good news. In my line of work there are very few good news stories, but thanks to some hard work, we have one to talk about today.
I won't chew up any more of your time.