Good morning.
On behalf of the Canadian Seed Trade Association, CSTA for short, I would like to thank the committee for the invitation to discuss our perspective on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
My name is Dan Wright and I serve as the second vice-president on the board of directors of CSTA. I will be sharing my time today with Dave Carey, CSTA's manager of government affairs and policy.
CSTA is the national voice of the Canadian seed trade association. We are a non-partisan, not-for-profit association that brings together 125 member companies engaged in all aspects of seed, including research, development, plant breeding, production, marketing, and sales, both domestically and internationally. Seed is the start of the agriculture value chain. Nine in ten bites of food around the world start with the planting of a seed.
Our members work with over 50 different crop kinds and serve the needs of their customers by developing and providing seed produced through various methods, including organic, conventional, and biotechnology. Our members range from single-family farm units to multinational companies.
CSTA members are proud to be vital contributors to the national economy and to the health and well-being of Canadian and international consumers. Our members are united in their support of CSTA's mission statement: to foster seed industry innovation and trade. Given our mandate, CSTA is in support of the TPP and any effort by the Canadian government to increase opportunities by addressing tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade. CSTA's first strategic priority is the unrestricted trade of seed around the world. The TPP provides our industry with better access to a $28-trillion market.
The economic impact of the seed industry is $5.61 billion annually, employing more than 57,000 Canadians and generating more than $450 million in exports. Exports are a very important part of the Canadian seed trade. Exports to member countries of the TPP account for over 70% of total exports or over $315 million annually. Canada's top TPP export markets for seed include the U.S., Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia, but our members are always looking for new ways to access new markets.
Given our experience with liberalizing trade agreements, we expect that the exports to TPP countries would increase significantly over time after ratification.
Thank you, and I will now turn my remaining time over to Dave Carey.