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18
Better Pork
February 2017
EXPORT
MARKETS
“The industry allocated a very
high priority to the Trans-Pacific
Partnership free trade agreement that
would greatly improve access to
Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia. Should
this agreement not proceed as
intended and rapidly, it is critical that
Canada re-engage immediately in
bilateral negotiations
with Japan. (This
country) already has a
free trade agreement
with Australia and is
close to concluding a
free trade agreement
with the European
Union.”
Canada can’t afford
to repeat its trade
experience with
South Korea, says
Davidson. In that situation, the U.S.
and Korea Free Trade Agreement
took effect in 2012. This resulted in
“Canadian trade negotiations
staggering from leading to trailing
their counterparts (of) the E.U. and
the U.S.,” says Davidson.
However, “Canada’s relatively
new free trade agreement with
(South) Korea continues to have a
supporting effect on exports of
hogs,” says Savaryn-Roy. This
agreement is likely to help Canada
recover some of the market share
that it lost from South Korea
because of the U.S. and Korea
agreement.
Another notable event occurred
in 2014, when Russia halted imports
of food products from Canada, the
European Union and the United
States. Since then the E.U. has been
aggressive in securing other markets
such as Japan and Canada.
The Canadian pork industry is in
fact now trying to
develop the exports to
the European Union,
says Stordy. “The
Canada-European
Union Comprehen-
sive Economic and
Trade Agreement
(CETA) has helped
deal with tariffs. Now
we are dealing with
working out technical
details.”
Another opportunity is Argenti-
na, he says. “Justin Trudeau (Cana-
da’s prime minister) was just down
in Argentina (in) November 2016
and was able to secure a process for
Canada to regain access to that
market. Argentine consumers really
enjoy red meat; we see pork substi-
tuting in well.”
Quality of Canadian pork
Canada is globally competitive. And
it is the producers that ultimately
help differentiate Canadian pork,
says Stordy.
“We are responsible (for) how we
raise the animals and provide
consistently healthy and safe prod-
ucts,” he says. “Consumers want to
know that their animals were raised
well, right around the world.”
Davidson shares similar views on
the importance of quality.
“Canada is not a low-cost produc-
er of either hogs or pork. Therefore, it
is imperative that Canadian pork be
marketed and valued globally as safe
and of high quality,” he says. Both
these qualities are shaped during
every step in the production and
supply chain.
“Producers use leading-edge
genetics, high-quality nutrition and
advanced management skills as well
as the on-farm Canadian Quality
Assurance (CQA) program to ensure
the high quality of Canadian pork.
Processors use leading-edge technol-
ogies that allow Canadian exporters
to supply markets around the globe,
including Japan and South Korea.
(Exporters supply) not only frozen
pork, but also reliably safe, high-
quality fresh, chilled pork that has a
comparatively long shelf-life.”
Producer involvement and brand-
ing are important too.
The new “Verified Canadian Pork
(VCP) brand allows us to market our
products based on food safety, animal
care and traceability attributes to
users and consumers of pork,” says
Urias. One of the objectives of the
VCP program is to “increase end-user
customer and consumer confidence
Gary Stordy