International Trade committee  The Canadian pulse and special crop industry is quite different from other field crops that we export to, by the level of processing, cleaning, splitting, and value-added that goes on within the industry. There are dozens of small and medium-sized companies in the west, but also

International Trade committee  Absolutely.

International Trade committee  That's true.

International Trade committee  Currently it's 60%, and it's effectively shutting us out of that market.

International Trade committee  The answer to your question is yes. This agreement would re-establish competitive, duty-free access for beans. We have demonstrated in our industry that we can sell and produce those products. We used to do that and had a very significant market in Colombia for red beans. With co

International Trade committee  The biggest issue for us is having that level playing field, facing the same tariffs and import duties as all our competitors. That is the key reason why we're supporting this particular agreement. With respect to access to food, not only in Colombia but in a lot of the markets

International Trade committee  We're certainly not experts who can testify from the perspective of human rights. But if you go to the USTR website you can see the agreement that has been negotiated--the tariff structures that have been negotiated within that deal. That is what I've been referring to about the

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. My understanding is that the negotiations on the U.S. agreement have been concluded. That agreement needs to be considered by Congress in the U.S. For us, the biggest benefit of this particular agreement is not so much to get out in front of the U.S.

International Trade committee  Good afternoon. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, for the opportunity to present here in front of you on this important matter today. I'm pleased to have with me and will share my time this afternoon with Mr. Murad Al-Katib. He's on the board of directors of

International Trade committee  Very quickly, we access a program for international trade promotion through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada called the Canada agriculture and food international program. That program helps industries develop and execute long-term international strategies to improve market promot

International Trade committee  We receive $250,000 for that program from AAFC, matched up with $250,000 of industry dollars.

International Trade committee  Sorry; we receive about $250,000 under a cost-shared program with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

International Trade committee  We receive $250,000 from AAFC and $250,000 from industry.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you very much to the committee for the opportunity to present here in front of you today on an issue that's of great importance to our industry: bilateral free trade agreements generally, and the one that Canada is negotiating with Colombia spec