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July 20, 2023
ABP strongly opposed to UK accession to CPTPP
Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) is standing with the Canadian Pork Council, the Canadian Cattle Association, and the Canadian Meat Council in opposition to the Government of Canada’s agreement to include the United Kingdom (UK) in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Under current trade agreements, the UK does not accept Canada’s animal health and meat inspection systems and measures, and thus their doors are essentially closed to Canadian beef.
“Canada’s bilateral trade with the United Kingdom unfairly disadvantages the Canadian beef industry. If the UK does not accept Canada’s rigorous and safe meat inspection system, it leaves no viable market access for Canadian beef—and no free trade,” said ABP General Manager Brad Dubeau.
The UK’s current position is not in line with the CPTPP’s key principle—open and free trade. As well, their decision to distrust Canada’s food safety system is not based on scientific principles.
Along with other industry groups, ABP is asking the federal government to ensure the Canadian/United Kingdom bilateral agreement sees fair access and reciprocal trade.
“A Canadian/United Kingdom bilateral agreement must guarantee fair access for Canadian beef. If it doesn’t, we urge Parliament to prioritize open trade and vote against the UK’s ascension into CPTPP,” said ABP Chair Brodie Haugan.
If Parliament fails to uphold the trade standards of CPTPP and votes in favour of the UK’s accession, it must provide compensation to beef and pork producers and processors for the damages and losses that result.
“The Government of Canada has compensated industries with market access concessions through unfair trade deals in the past,” said Sheila Hillmer, ABP Vice Chair. “If CPTPP moves forward without full reciprocity between the United Kingdom and Canada, Parliament will need to provide compensation again – this time to beef and pork producers and processors.”
The UK has exported more than 7,000 tonnes of beef into Canada in the past two years, valued at almost C$40 million to Canada, while Canada has exported only 657 tonnes in 2021 and zero in 2022.
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Live: 183.00 (TX, KN), 184.00 (NE)
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| Expiry | Fed | Feeder | Calf |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18-Dec-23 | 232 | 322 | - |
| 15-Jan-24 | 236 | 322 | - |
| 12-Feb-24 | 238 | 332 | - |
| 11-Mar-24 | 238 | 332 | - |
| 8-Apr-24 | 244 | 338 | - |
| 6-May-24 | 248 | 340 | - |
| 3-Jun-24 | 252 | 348 | - |
Last Updated on September 21, 2023
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I have been long opposed to the provisions for beef trade between the European Union and Canada under CETA.
Several reasons, the hormone barrier is simply a phytosanitary trade barrier – European tourists rave about the beef here and consume it in large amounts, EU regulators who visit Canada to inspect our processing facilities insist on eating North American beef while here. More importantly, North American consumers have been consuming beef produced with hormonal growth promotants for over forty years with no adverse health results.
EU regulators have a long and documented history of creating and using trivial and excessive regulations to obstruct trade.
When CETA was signed and implemented, I had no faith that past behaviours would be altered and time has proven this to be true. As you are aware, Canada has incurred a large trade deficit in beef products. Interestingly, when I last checked the EU was exporting boneless beef to Canada at a value less than the value of a comparable product produced in Canada from cull cows. This action basically depressed the price of cows in Canada in excess of four or five years. It is my understanding that the bulk of the beef exported by the EU came for the UK over that period of time. An additional point is that EU officials and farm organizations claim that their production systems are not cost competitive with North American systems, yet they are selling product into Canada at prices below Canada prices (which at the time were resulting in significant losses to our sector). Is that not “dumping”?
The proposed UK accession will simply continue the current imbalance. Trade deals basically require that both parties benefit. Perhaps in the large scheme of the deal, other Canadian sectors will benefit but the fact is that the primary production beef sector has been sacrificed to implement CETA. CPTPP will be as detrimental to the sector as CETA has proven to be.