Thank you for the invitation, Madam Chair, and thank you to the committee members for your work on this issue.
My name is René Roy, and I am the chair of the Canadian Pork Council. Joining me is Stephen Heckbert, who is our executive director.
As the third-largest pork exporter of the world, trade policies are of utmost importance to the prosperity and vitality of the Canadian pork industry. As you know, Canada exports 70% of its pork production to almost 80 countries around the world. We are believers and supporters of free trade and fair trade. That is why we are pleased to be consulted on the upcoming Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement, the CUFTA.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Canadians have felt a significant impact on their exports, putting the food security of both our countries at the forefront of conversations. The Canadian government's trade action plan plays a critical role in securing benefits for Canadian pork producers. As an industry, we believe in free trade and we support the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement.
CUFTA gives us an opportunity to eliminate a majority of Ukraine's agricultural tariffs and have an interesting level of duty-free access. For the hog industry, it is essential that our products benefit from a large and duty-free tariff rate quota that exceeds, by a wide margin, Canada's current exports to Ukraine.
Some agreements, like CETA, do not meet the necessary standards of open trade and undermine the principles of free and fair trade. That's why we urge the committee to be vigilant to ensure the science-based principles that govern our trade are protected should Ukraine ever be invited to join CETA. As it stands, the CUFTA allows the Canadian pork industry to benefit from competitive access to this international market.
All long-term projections of global demand for pork meat indicate long-term growth. Canada's ability to supply quality pork to the world will be part of our contribution to the growth of the Canadian economy. We know that the future of Ukraine is uncertain, and we are proud to support Ukraine with our government. Pork producers have been among the most affected, as Russia had been a growing market for our products in recent years. We want to make sure that we support Ukraine by providing quality, nutritious products that can help Ukraine feed its people.
We hope that the committee continues to ensure that food security is a key part of our free trade positioning as it previews this and all trade agreement files.
Thank you, Madam Chair.