On April 27, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) had the opportunity to submit comments to the Federal Consultation on the Canada-United Kingdom (U.K.) trade negotiations and the U.K.'s possible ascension to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
Despite some growth of Canadian beef exports to the U.K. since the implementation of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), Canadian exports have largely remained underwhelming due in large part to the difficulty of exporting to the European and U.K. markets. What was close to par two-way trade volumes in 2018 has progressed to a nearly two-to-one advantage for the U.K. in 2019 and more than a quadruple advantage for the U.K. in 2020. Canadian beef has duty-free access for 2,311 tonnes of fresh and 968 tonnes of frozen hormone-beef in 2021. The U.K. beef industry on the other hand has unlimited duty-free access into the Canadian market.
To address this growing trade imbalance, CCA encourages the Government of Canada to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible to work towards an ambitious FTA with the U.K., which will address current trade limiting factors that were perpetuated in the transition agreement and allow Canadian farmers and ranchers to balance the currently uneven trade relationship. CCA also welcomes the expansion of the CPTPP with the U.K., subject to their alignment with the high ambition of the agreement, as it is an opportunity to increase the value of beef exports through the development of diverse supply chains under truly free, predictable and secure terms of access.
CCA’s priorities for trade with the U.K. under either the future bilateral agreement or CPTPP are; reciprocal beef market access, the alignment of U.K.’s sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements to international standards and the attainment of systems approval. Regarding systems approval Canada has world-renowned food safety and meat inspection system recognized through "full systems approval" by most countries to which we export. Full systems approval is based on the two sides gaining confidence in each other's protocols and compliance. While we understand that achieving such mutual confidence was a challenge with the full 28 EU Member States, we were likely closest with the U.K., and it should be very achievable in a bilateral context.
The CCA has been a consistent advocate of free trade and the further expansion of the CPTPP to
countries and economies that are able to meet the high ambition of the agreement. Hence, we
welcome the U.K.'s interest in joining CPTPP and would be supportive of their accession subject
to them meeting the high bar for trade liberalization in which other parties have agreed.
CCA will continue working with the federal government and the negotiators by providing more precise advice as the negotiation and accession process moves forward.
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