The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) participated in the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) which was held in Geneva from June 12 to 15, 2022. Bob Lowe, CCA Past President, and Fawn Jackson, CCA’s Director of Policy and International Affairs, attendance at this meeting underscores the importance of maintaining international trade flows for the Canadian beef industry.
Minister Ng, Ambassador De Boer and Canadian officials focused their efforts on securing ambitious results for Canada and finding potential solutions to address world-wide challenges. Noteworthy achievements coming out of the MC12 includes: a Declaration on Trade and Food Security, a Declaration on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, as well as commitments to reform and strengthen the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanisms. With these outcomes, there is an opportunity to reset discussions on addressing trade-distorting subsidies.
CCA will review the details concerning the outcomes of the M12 closely in the coming months, but the discussions and outcomes on issues such as food security, advancing trade liberalization in agriculture, maintaining rules-based trade, and ensuring decisions are based on sound science are encouraging.
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