International Trade committee  In terms of imports of beef, we are not too concerned about the Asian market. The Australians are world traders. The Americans are our biggest customer and our biggest competitor. I think it comes back to picking the market that works best for us. The importance of this is not s

International Trade committee  You know, if you just start with the North American context, a few years ago we imported almost $1 billion worth of U.S. beef. We send twice that much south. In that context, we are doing that right now.

International Trade committee  It's a high-quality product. They recognize high quality and they're prepared to pay for it. That's why it's a lucrative market. It's the jewel in the crown in this agreement. Another thing that hasn't been touched on here is that if the TPP is implemented, which we're hopeful

International Trade committee  I think with Vietnam's 89 million people, income is on the rise and that it's an emerging economy. Rising income correlates with more consumption of protein and the ability to pay for what we produce.

International Trade committee  Did you have anything you wanted to add, John?

International Trade committee  I think labelling should deal with the ingredients and food safety issues. I think if it's not going to be an impact for human health or the consumer, then I'm not sure that extreme labelling beyond that is necessary.

International Trade committee  As a global number, I guess, in Canada our industry is directly or indirectly responsible for 228,000 jobs. As I said, the important thing to remember here is that it's an integrated industry, and an impact on one element of the supply chain can ripple across the others. We're ch

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It's nice to see you here from Atlantic Canada. Maybe we can do a little surf and turf after we're done today. A bit of what I'm going to say was touched on by Rich Smith, so there might be a little repetition and maybe some reinforcement of points made.

Agriculture committee  Yes. I just want to also make a statement here. It's presented that hormones are bad or somehow creating a health problem for consumers. That is not the issue. We have no problem with producers producing a product with a given production technology if it expands a category. But

Agriculture committee  It's the competition, competition and choice. Right now the differential between Canadian and U.S. pricing for feedlot cattle is called the basis. The wider the basis the less benefit to the producer. Competition can help narrow that basis.

Agriculture committee  It's the competition from others who will bid for that market.

Agriculture committee  Our focus is on beef, and the “C” in CETA is for comprehensive, so it goes much beyond beef. One of the think tanks I go to is The Economist and once in a while we get mentioned in this magazine. There were two references to the CETA, and in both situations one defined Canada as

Agriculture committee  With regard to production capacity, I would say yes. When it comes to the capacity for the packers, as you know, at those big plants they can double-shift and they often do. So that's 5,000 a day in Brooks, in High River, and to a lesser extent in Guelph. That would be a question

Agriculture committee  It's already happening.

Agriculture committee  I think to make sure the plants are modern and can be competitive in the world we have today. Again, that's an issue for the packing plants, not for the people.