The Canadian Pork Council welcomes the Canada-EU Alliance for the Future, announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney and European leaders on October 30. The commitment to strengthen trade ties and address regulatory barriers is an important opportunity to improve access to the European market for Canadian pork producers.
The council also supports the announced establishment of a Canadian Industry Office in Brussels. CPC has helped advance this initiative alongside other Canadian industry stakeholders to build relationships with European partners and decisionmakers.
The office will help Canadian sectors build relationships with European partners, engage earlier on emerging regulatory issues and support implementation of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, known as CETA. For pork producers, it offers an additional avenue to bring market-access concerns directly into these discussions.
The Canadian Pork Council has long collaborated with the federal government to advance the Canada-EU relationship. For Canada’s pork sector, deeper cooperation with the EU has long been of interest, alongside efforts to ensure CETA delivers on its promise.
Considering that regulatory and technical barriers continue to limit Canadian pork exports to the EU, the renewed commitment to address these barriers provides an opportunity to make progress on these longstanding challenges, including testing and processing requirements.
“Canadian pork producers have long seen the potential of the European market to diversify our export market. We welcome the prime minister’s commitment to building a stronger trade relationship with the EU and tackling the barriers that have limited our opportunities under CETA,” said René Roy, chair of the CPC. “For producers, progress means being able to reach more consumers and build lasting trade relationships. We look forward to working with the government and our European partners to make that happen.”
