July 17, 2015 – Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
In discussing progress in trade and market access and touching on interprovincial trade as an area for ongoing focus, Ministers reaffirmed support for developing new markets around the world for Canadian products, while continuing to preserve the integrity of the supply management system. Ministers were pleased with the World Trade Organization’s fourth and final ruling in May reaffirming Canada’s position that United States Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) measures are discriminating against Canadian cattle and hogs, which Canada estimates is causing damages of over $3 billion a year.
Industry leaders of Value Chain Roundtables representing beef, grains, horticulture, special crops, food processing and industrial bioproducts sectors participated in a discussion on priority issues in the sector. Ministers agreed that the food and beverage processing industry is key to growth in the sector. In 2014, it was one of Canada’s largest manufacturing sectors (representing 15.9% of gross domestic product (GDP)), the leading manufacturing employer and the largest market for Canadian agricultural products. The key to the long-term competitiveness of the food and beverage processing industry is increasing exports to emerging markets and capitalizing on trends in global food consumption. Ministers committed to continuing the FPT Food Processing Industry Development Forum to coordinate government and industry efforts to encourage investment, innovation, trade and market development in this sector.
Ministers reaffirmed a commitment to emergency management, and endorsed continued work on a Strategic Emergency Management Framework for Agriculture. They discussed a set of priority actions including the development of a strategy to modernize and enhance plant pest and animal disease prevention and management, as well as to proactively manage potential risks associated with changes to climate. Ministers recognized that building a more integrated emergency management approach between FPT governments and industry is critical to the continued growth and prosperity of the sector.
Ministers noted that grain is moving well since the implementation of the Fair Rail for Grain Farmers Act and other measures, and underlined the importance of Transport Canada’s accelerated review of the Canada Transportation Act later this year, which will offer longer term solutions to structural issues affecting rail transport.
Since the last meeting, there has been significant progress on other issues, including the modernization of Canada’s crop variety registration system and the passage of the Agricultural Growth Act, which included updated Plant Breeders’ Rights, both of which will spur investment to improve farmers’ access to the strongest, best-suited crop varieties.
Agriculture is a shared jurisdiction and federal, provincial and territorial governments work closely together in the development and delivery of policies and programs. Growing Forward 2 (GF2) is a five-year agreement developed in consultation with industry. It was launched in April 2013. It marked a major shift from reactive agricultural programming to proactive programming that supports the economic potential of the sector and provides a foundation for the development of programs and services to position Canadian producers and food processors for growth.
GF2 provides multi-year funding for business risk management programs, and includes an FPT investment of more than $3 billion in strategic initiatives that promote innovation, competitiveness and market development. Of this, $2 billion supports programs that are cost-shared (60:40) by federal and provincial/territorial governments to ensure programs are tailored to regional needs.
For more information, visit Growing Forward.
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