Mr. Chair and committee members, thank you for the opportunity to speak to your committee today. My name is Tim Wiens, and I am a farmer from the Herschel area. Herschel is a small town of about 20 people about 150 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon. I am also chair of the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers.
Thank you for visiting Saskatoon. We are pleased to speak to you today about the TPP. I know that some of your committee members have met with the pulse industry when we were in Ottawa in March.
Canada is the largest supplier of pulse crops to protein-hungry markets around the world. In 2015, Canada exported over $4.2 billion in pulses, $2.5 billion of which were from Saskatchewan lentil exports alone. This is on par with the value of both canola seed and non-durum wheat exports from Saskatchewan.
Canada is the world's largest producer and exporter of peas and lentils. Each year, Saskatchewan production accounts for 60% of Canada's peas and over 95% of Canada's lentils and chickpeas. Although we export to more than 100 countries, our key markets are concentrated in just a few. Ninety percent of our yellow pea exports go to just three countries, and 85% of our red lentil exports go to just five. As we produce more, we need to create and diversify markets for our products.
TPP provides an opportunity for market growth, diversification, and a reduction of market access risk. Members of the TPP are some of Canada's largest trading partners for pulses. In 2015, Canada exported approximately $383 million or 458,000 tonnes of pulses, pulse flours, and pulse fractions to TPP members. Combined, TPP members would be Canada's third largest market for pulses.
For us, ratification of the TPP accomplishes three things. First, it is an opportunity to reduce or eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade. While Canada enjoys duty-free access for pulses to a number of TPP countries, Japan and Vietnam are markets that face import duties, and those would be reduced over time.
Second, the Canadian pulse industry would suffer severe consequences with respect to its competitiveness if Canada did not implement the TPP. Two of the Canadian pulse industry's largest competitors, Australia and the United States, are TPP members who would benefit from duty-free access while Canadian growers continue to face tariffs into TPP countries.
Third, it has the potential to improve the alignment of trade tolerances between TPP members for the use of technology in food production. This is what I want to focus the remainder of my comments on.
Unfortunately, misaligned approvals and maximum residue limits for crop protection products threaten several important things: our access to key markets, the ability that I have to effectively utilize technology on my farm, and food security in food-deficit regions of the world, where predictable trade is necessary to make food available 365 days a year. The zero or near-zero default tolerances that are commonly applied today by countries, as they wait for tolerances to be established or for other reasons have missing MRLs, are not based on science. Future testing technology that is cheaper, easier, and more sensitive will disrupt trade and add to price volatility in markets with zero or near-zero tolerances.
The Canadian pulse industry is a strong supporter of both bilateral and multilateral efforts to reduce barriers to trade. The TPP is an opportunity to improve the predictability of trade between TPP members concerning trade tolerances for technology used in crop production. It is critical that scientific committees created under the TPP be utilized to align pesticide maximum residue limits and policies on how low-level presence of GM crops will be addressed.
The TPP must be utilized to develop a dialogue on recognition of scientific standards. Canada must show leadership to develop a politically, technically, and commercially workable domestic RSS policy. Sound science-based processes can travel across national boundaries.
In closing, from our perspective, Canada must ratify the TPP. Without ratification, Canada could be at a significant tariff disadvantage to exporting nations like Australia and the United States. The TPP also creates the opportunity to make tangible improvements to align trade tolerances.
This is the end of my remarks today. We have Carl Potts, our executive director. We would be glad to answer any questions you have.