International Trade Committee on May 9th, 2022

[Gary Stordy]

If I could add, there is not for pork, other than the need for recognition of disease control zones. That way, if the other countries were to meet and be able to access into the Canadian market but unfortunately had a reportable disease that would essentially stop trade, they're able to demonstrate that they have areas that are free of it and areas that have it so they're able to continue to trade with us. We would expect that same kind of retroactive access.

[Fawn Jackson]

I would just note that the silence of the group really emphasizes that we are very good trade partners with that portion of the world. We are a stable, large, sustainable producer of food, and they have large populations, so we're, as you can see, excited about the opportunity that lies ahead of us.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Mr. Trew, do you want to squeeze in a fast comment?

[Stuart Trew]

Yes. It just pertains, again, to traceability, I suppose, and maybe in respect to human rights abuses and forced labour in supply chains. We might want to protect Canadian industry and farming from those kinds of practices overseas, as the Biden administration is doing with its emphasis on how that undercuts the competitiveness of the U.S. manufacturing and U.S. industry.

We have to know where the products coming in have been built using forced labour, slave labour or child labour, for example. That's something we should spend time thinking about. How do we protect our workers and our industry against that kind of activity?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Sheehan, you have five minutes, please.

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

I have a question for our witnesses, and I've delved into this a little bit before. Our government is supporting environmental sustainability both domestically and abroad, and I'd like to ask specifically about agricultural clean-tech exports to ASEAN countries. Do you see a path forward for Canada to export agricultural clean technologies to ASEAN countries?

[Dave Carey]

I can't speak necessarily to the clean-tech side of it, Madam Chair.

I can say, though, that when you are exporting something like a Canadian canola product, which is really good at sequestering carbon and does have recognition under the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification, we are in a way exporting a very carbon-neutral product.

On the clean-tech side, I represent farmers and not companies, so it would be a bit further upstream. Canadian agriculture exports around the world tend to also inherently come with a better climate profile, as my colleague Mr. Trew was just describing with some of the issues around deforestation or draining of peatlands for palm in Canada. We have very robust sustainable practices around canola, so more canola there theoretically would be clean. On the tech side, that would be further upstream than the company side.

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

That's fair enough.

Is that what the rest of you would say? I see some nodding heads.

Previously when we did the TPP, there were two tariff lifts. We did them expeditiously for two reasons, and the cattlemen were very excited about this. The two tariff lifts that happened.... Canada was in a good position, because a few original signatories would have a say in who might be involved in that particular trade agreement going forward. We know in the area that we're discussing, some of those countries are already involved in the TPP.

Through you, Madam Chair, to our witnesses, what do you think would be better, to basically have a broadened TPP, if you will, or a new deal?

[Fawn Jackson]

I think that we want to be focusing on both, because, if we look at CPTPP, that agreement is there. If we can get folks or economies in the door, let's get that rolling. At the same time, it might not be appropriate for some of the economies within that region, so let's make sure that we have systems in process to move those forward, too. Hopefully, we can do both.

Maybe Claire has further insight on that.

[Claire Citeau]

Yes. In previous years, we recommended that the ASEAN countries join the CPTPP platform as a preferred approach, recognizing that their priorities were elsewhere at the time and that it might not work for all countries. We have continued to support Canada launching trade discussions with the ASEAN. Certainly, if they were to join the CPTPP platform, this would strengthen the CPTPP overall.

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Through our trade deals, and it was touched on a little bit, it was about how we can elevate not only the environmental situation in that particular area of the world but also more gender equality. I think that's really, really important as well.

I would like to hear from the witnesses. The reason I'm asking this right now is we're planning a trip to go over to be face to face with the various countries we hope to expand our trade deals with. If you were there with us as a witness sitting at the table, what would you express is the Canadian advantage for those people to be involved with a trade deal with the association that you represent?

[Claire Citeau]

There is a vast amount of resources and experiences. There is a strong and robust regulatory system that is recognized around the world. It's an industry that is backed by science and really strong sustainability practices. It's at the forefront of innovation. Canola is a result of that. It's really fascinating to see the amount of innovation that the sector has. As a result, we are the fifth exporter of food products in the world. We are a reliable and trusted food security partner at a time when the world is changing.

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

Very good.

Does anybody else want to comment?

I have one last question.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Very quickly, Mr. Sheehan.

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Sault Ste. Marie, ON]

I get your whole backdoor tariffs.

I was in high school in Sault Ste. Marie, when the then trade minister, Jim Kelleher, who served as MP for one term in Sault Ste. Marie, referenced how there was some kind of inoculation that we were giving swine and the Americans had put in some tariffs against that particular thing.

How would we address what I call backdoor tariffs and non-trade barriers? What would be your advice to this committee in dealing with those?

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Could we have a brief answer?

I think Mr. Stordy is going to give it a try.

[Gary Stordy]

From the health side, even though the WTO can be dysfunctional, there are systems with the WTO, the OIE, that help manage the discussion moving forward, and that countries follow those rules.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Thank you to all of our witnesses. You made the meeting very interesting by actually being here in person. The time passed very quickly. To the members, thank you all very much. To the witnesses, until the next time, thank you all very much.

The meeting is adjourned.