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We have a good working relationship.
Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for inviting the Barley Council of Canada to discuss the Canada-Europe trade agreement.
My name is Brian Otto. I'm a barley grower and also chair of the Barley Council of Canada. l have served on numerous boards as a director, including Alberta Barley, Western Grains Research Foundation, and I am the past president of the Western Barley Growers Association. My wife, Carolyn, and l have a farming operation south of Lethbridge, just north of the 49th parallel in Alberta.
On behalf of the Barley Council of Canada board, I want to congratulate the Canadian government on their efforts to eliminate trade barriers and make historic progress in Canada.
The BCC is supportive of CETA and what it means for the future of the agriculture industry. Trade agreements like these are the backbone of Canadian agriculture and our barley farmers fully recognize that CETA will strengthen the future of international exports and long-term profitability. This agreement will also help to build and expand our export markets, which are critical to ensuring sustainability of the entire barley value chain.
Canada is the fifth largest agrifood exporter in the world. We depend on exports to drive our economy and provide access for our agrifood products. Canada exported over 1.4 million tonnes of barley in 2012. This agreement will enable access to a market of 500 million consumers with a GDP of over $17 trillion. This will allow Canada to make significant headway in Europe and the European Union ahead of our major trading partners and competitors, such as the United States.
With the coast-to-coast trade agreements on the horizon—both CETA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership—the BCC supports the federal government's initiative to open up the international market for Canadian barley. For barley, tariffs can be up to $120 a tonne. These tariffs are significant. Down the road, CETA will ensure permanent duty-free access. The removal of tariffs on virtually all of Canada's agriculture and food products over time will give our export markets a significant boost. Currently, Canada agrifood exports to the EU are about $2.4 billion annually, a number that could increase by more than $1.5 billion annually under this agreement. This trade deal coincides with new marketing changes for barley in western Canada. CETA is the next step in solidifying the long-term profitability and sustainability of the entire Canadian barley value chain.
My board also recognizes that a win for the beef and pork industry is a win for us, because of our mutual interest in feed. Under CETA, beef exports to Europe are projected to increase by $600 million, and pork exports are projected to increase by $400 million. The livestock industry is crucial for Canadian barley farmers, as over 80% of our barley goes toward feed production. We anticipate this deal will drive significant growth in domestic feed grain sales as exports of beef and pork expand under the new deal.
As part of these trade negotiations, we understand that the European Union has raised concerns about Canada's outdated legislation with respect to plant breeders' rights. Currently, we are using old legislation from a 1978 convention governing international trade in seeds. Canada is one of only two developed countries in the world that has not brought its legislation into compliance with the 1991 seed convention, commonly known as UPOV-91. As part of CETA, we encourage the Canadian government to commit to modernizing our legislation so that Canadian farmers can benefit from increased investment in innovation, research, and development of new seed varieties in Canada. As a farmer from western Canada, l am excited about the new value-added opportunities we are seeing down the road.
The Barley Council of Canada fully supports CETA in principle and will provide ongoing support so Canadian farmers can start reaping the benefits of improved market access for barley, development in our domestic livestock sector, and access to new and improved seed varieties.
I'd like to thank you all for inviting us to make this presentation today.
On behalf of the Alberta Barley Commission, l' d like to thank you for inviting me here today to discuss CETA. I'm here on behalf of Alberta's 11,000-plus barley farmers. As general manager of the Alberta Barley Commission, I also serve as president of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance.
The Alberta Barley Commission's mandate is to grow our barley industry and its profitability. l'm pleased to say that the free trade agreement with Europe provides the means and the opportunity to do just that.
Canadian farmers grow exceptional barley and we're known around the world for a high-quality, premium product. Increased access to the European Union means our malting barley and food barley will continue to thrive. But even more importantly, increased access for our country's beef and pork industry is good news for Alberta's barley farmers because our biggest market is the hog and cattle feeding industry at home. Most notably, barley fuels the multi-billion dollar Alberta beef industry and gives Alberta beef its great taste and texture.
Eighty per cent of Alberta's barley goes to the feeding industry, which is why these numbers are so significant. Under CETA, beef exports to the EU are projected to increase by $600 million and pork exports are projected to increase by $400 million. This is why we expect CETA to drive significant growth in domestic feed grain sales as exports of beef and pork expand under the new trade deal.
Therefore, on behalf of the farmer members of the Alberta Barley Commission, l'd like to congratulate the Canadian government on taking down trade barriers and making a real difference for farmers.
CETA sets a precedent for comprehensive trade agreements going forward. It's an important deal that redefines Canada's role in international trade. But it's also important for the farmers at home, the people who work every day to feed their own families and whose livelihoods are affected by what happens across the country and across the world.
The Alberta Barley Commission believes smart trade agreements are the best way to ensure the Canadian economy remains vibrant and strong. Through trade we are able to ensure long-term viability for our farms. This is why we are pleased with CETA and look forward to Canada's involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trade also makes our industry more sustainable throughout the entire value chain and provides new and growing markets for Canadian exports.
Food barley is one area of market growth for Alberta barley. We are actively developing hulless barley markets around the world, using our Health Canada health claim to talk about the benefits of eating barley, and I'm not just talking about beer. The health claim states that barley fibre helps lower your cholesterol, which is a risk factor in heart disease. By developing the food barley markets while also developing stronger trading relationships with the European Union, we are further investing in on-farm success. And we're helping people be healthier.
Developing new markets for our barley is one way farmers will benefit from the government's strong trade agenda. As you know, Canada is the fifth largest agrifood exporter in the world. We depend on exports to drive our economy and provide access for our agrifood products. Last year, Canada exported over 1.4 million tonnes of barley. Under CETA we will have access to a market of 500 million consumers with a GDP of over $17 trillion. The numbers speak for themselves. Reducing and eliminating tariffs on barley is good for our farmers and for our customers in Europe.
The Alberta Barley Commission fully supports CETA and looks forward to a more secure future for farmers.
Thank you.
:
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
To our friends here today, you talked about the fact that you have this wondrous opportunity, this wondrous market, but how do you intend to exploit it? It's all wondrous to say it's wondrous, but quite frankly that doesn't get you another pound of barley out of the Prairies, or out of Alberta, into the EU. How do you intend to do that? What's the plan to exploit the opportunity that you say is before you? What exactly would that be? Do you have a sense of what you want to do, or is there a sense of how you're going to do this? I understand the tariff piece. We can leave the tariff piece out of it.
The second question I'll ask—because I know my voice won't last very long—is about the other side of it, the non-tariff barriers, which, as all of us around this table know, is one of the biggest impediments to agricultural trade. Are you assured that there aren't any in this agreement, and if so, do you have it in writing?
When we say we're going to ship malt barley to Europe, there are two ways it could go. It could go as raw barley, which is just clean it, put it in a railcar or whatever, and get it into export position. It could also go as a manufactured malt product. What we have to look at here is this: what are the tariffs on our malt companies when they try to ship malt in that direction? I can't answer that question.
Certainly I see opportunities. Will they be every year? No. There will be times when there are shortages of that product here or in Europe. When those opportunities present themselves, that will be an opportunity for the barley industry.
Just to give you an example, three years ago Saudi Arabia could not access their barley from traditional sources, which were Ukraine and Russia. Canada exported a significant amount of barley into Saudi Arabia, because we had the barley.
Those are the kinds of opportunities I see opening up in Europe as we eliminate these tariffs. It puts us on a level playing field, able to compete.
:
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you both for being here.
I'm going to cover a couple of different areas. I'll start with where Mr. Allen was—by signing CETA, we gained 500 million new customers; 500 million new people who could buy your products. But we have to be able to sell to them. We have to find a niche.
Mr. Otto, you mentioned the $120-tonne tariff currently in there. If you can drop your price by $120 tonne, it might make that part easier to sell, or a little more profit to you, maybe half and half would be the way to do it. You also said that 80% of all barley goes into feed for beef and hogs. We've had beef farmers and hog farmers here, or producer groups, telling us that they expect to sell an awful lot more beef and hogs. I think some of them come from your area of the country.
Would that mean that you will have to sell a lot more barley to those people if that's the preferred feed?
I think the answer is yes, but I'll let you say it.
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As you're probably aware, my party is reserving judgment on CETA until we see the details of the text. That makes sense when we have any kind of agreement.
I have here an op-ed by the president of the National Farmers Union, Terry Boehm, which appeared in the Union Farmer Quarterly in the spring of 2013. He talks about UPOV 91. I wouldn't mind getting your feedback on this since I'm not sure if I understand this correctly.
He starts off by saying there is pressure by the Canadian Seed Trade Association, seed companies, “to change our legislation to the much more” what he calls “restrictive UPOV 91”, and it is being sold....“...is required for Canada to have access to improved and innovative varieties”. He says it sounds good on the surface. Then he goes on to do an analysis of it.
He says that farmers cannot imagine being denied the ability to save, re-use, exchange, or sell seeds to a neighbour and plant a crop with the harvest being theirs and theirs alone. UPOV 91 wants to change all of that. It will happen through breeders’ rights which will trump farmers' privilege every time or make it so expensive farmers will not bother to save seeds any longer. He says the first right plant breeders will have is the so-called cascading right which gives plant breeders the ability to collect royalties beyond the seed itself to harvested material and even processed products. This would mean that if the farmer had used a protected variety, royalties could be collected at any time including when he sells his crop. Yet no one is defining how high the royalties would be and what would be done with them. It is not clear if the farmer would be responsible for the royalties for just the seed it took to produce the crop or for the whole crop. He mentioned these are undefined and would be left for courts to determine.
He talks about the next right, which is the ability for breeders to control the conditioning, cleaning, treating, stocking, storing, sale, import and export of seed. He says, “If a farmer cannot get his seed cleaned, he will not plant it. If he cannot store grain for the purpose of seeding, how can he exercise his so-called privilege?”
I want to give you some time to respond.
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I have already stated that UPOV 91 does not threaten a farmer's ability to save his own seed. It doesn't. That's in the protocol.
Where it does stop a farmer, and quite frankly, I support that you can't take that seed.... You're going to pay a royalty on it when you get it. I always do. I buy new seed every year, and when I pay for that seed, part of the cost of that seed is a royalty that goes back to the breeder who developed that variety. Where I have a problem is if a farmer, such as myself, were to buy that seed, pay the royalty on it, and then a neighbour comes the next year and says he'd like some of that seed and I sell it to him for whatever, and no royalty goes back to the breeder. How do we maintain breeding programs in Canada if we don't make sure we have funds in place to reward that person who developed the seed so he can carry on with varietal development? That's where I have a problem.
If farmers want to save it for themselves, I don't have a problem with that. I think that's right. But what they are doing effectively, by selling that seed to another farmer, is providing that seed with no royalty. That other farmer hasn't had to pay the same cost as you. Quite frankly, as a farmer, if I take my pocketbook out and pay for the variety, so should the farmer who wants that seed.
:
Thank you for coming, Brian. It's good to see you again.
We've discussed Canadian market freedom and other things that we have done on our watch that we think have made Canadian farmers more competitive, especially western Canadian farmers—at least making them equal to the rest of the Canadian farmers who are already there. So we've been working on this, and it looks like you get the open market, and you see the opportunity that's there. I guess we are the glass is half-full side, and there's the glass that's half-empty side. I understand that, and I appreciate your positive expectation of what's out there.
To build on that a bit, you said that you farm crops other than just barley, but from just a barley perspective to start with, we've talked about feed and malt barleys. As a barley farmer, what other potential markets do you see?
I have another question about what products are already in the Canadian consumer market that use barley, for the information of committee members who may not know. Are there other opportunities that we can use to sell some of these products to Europe?
There is a lot there, but what do you see as the potential for barley in the future other than feed and the typical thing that we understand barley for?
:
I think there are some opportunities, and Lisa can speak to this on the food side better than I can. Again, we're not talking beer because I call that the “liquid food” side of it.
I don't know whether many people are aware of it, but there is barley flour available on the shelves in grocery stores now. Certainly that's a market that, as we move through the health food side of it, I'm certain has opportunities.
There's one that's not talked about a lot, and certainly it's fallen on the back burner, and that's the ethanol industry. Barley has a very good fit in the ethanol industry; the ethanol production from barley fits very well. So there's an opportunity there, although I think that we're past making the ethanol side of things the focus area.
When you talk about opportunities for barley—I've said it earlier—the craft brewing industry has absolutely exploded. Certainly, when I talk to the maltsters, there's more and more demand for malt barley through these small craft breweries.
In my opinion, as the image of barley becomes more focused on being a healthy food, there's going to be more and more opportunity to expand the barley acreage, especially in Canada.
:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
On behalf of our 28,000 farmer members in Grain Farmers of Ontario, I want to thank you for this opportunity to provide our views on the Canada EU trade agreement. Over the past 10 to 12 years, the Ontario grain industry has increasingly outgrown the Ontario and Canadian markets. The domestic market remains the primary market for most of our production, but the development of international markets is an ongoing critical task. This is particularly true of Ontario soybeans. Two-thirds of our production is exported. As an association of farmers our mission is to develop an innovative and successful business environment that will allow our farmer members the opportunity for profitable growth. The path to achieve this requires the reduction of trade barriers and the expansion of markets for corn, soybeans, and wheat. For these reasons, Grain Farmers of Ontario is very supportive of the government's efforts to secure foreign markets for our products.
Given the importance of the European Union as a market for Ontario grain, we are particularly supportive of CETA. The EU is an already important market for Ontario and Canadian grain and oilseed producers. Between 2008 and 2012, Canadian soybean exports to the EU increased 113%, going from half a million metric tonnes in 2008 to 1.3 million metric tonnes in 2012. The value of these exported soybeans is around $740 million and accounts for over one-quarter of the Canadian soybean crop. Within the top 10 export markets by volume in 2012, four of the top destinations were European countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Italy. This year for the first time in several years, we also exported corn to the EU, a total of 175,000 tonnes were exported at a value of $46 million.
Additionally, over the last several years, Ontario wheat has been exported, although only 38,800 tonnes, because wheat exports have been constrained by the EU quota for Canadian low protein wheat at less than 13.5% protein. Upon implementation of CETA, the quota for Canadian low protein wheat will immediately rise to 100,000 tonnes from the current 38,800 tonnes. Further, the current in-quota tariff of 12 euros per tonne will disappear, and over the seven-year implementation period of the agreement the over-quota duty rate of 95 euros per tonne will be reduced in equal amounts. In the eighth year the EU market will be entirely open for our wheat, an exceptional market opportunity for our farmers and one that they look forward to selling into.
Financially, Grain Farmers of Ontario also foresees a lot of benefit within the domestic industry. A large portion of our Ontario grains is sold to companies and industries in Canada that will benefit from improved access to the EU. Upon implementation of the agreement, the tariffs on products like bakery goods, spirits, soybean oil, soymeal, and numerous other products produced from Ontario grain will either be substantially reduced or eliminated entirely.
Another important element of the value chain for Ontario grain is livestock producers. Grain Farmers of Ontario is encouraged by the fact that Canadian beef and pork producers have secured increased access to the EU as these two industries are major users of Ontario grains. In fact, livestock feed remains the primary use for corn in our province, and we look forward to increasing our supply to livestock as the demand for their products increases internationally.
Above all this, one of the most important challenges facing exports of our soybeans and corn into the EU is the slow pace of the EU approvals for genetically modified grains. As previously mentioned, our farmers operate in an innovative business environment and are high adapters of new technology. The EU however, maintains a very low tolerance level for unapproved GM grains destined for feed use and has a zero tolerance for unapproved GM grains for food use. One of the most promising points under the agreement is that Canada and the EU will establish a working group to examine biotech issues and ensure that they do not disrupt trade.
This open dialogue and collaboration on the issue of genetically modified grains is an exceptional step forward in our relationship with the EU, and we look forward to contributing to this working group.
We see immense opportunity for Ontario grain farmers with the implementation of CETA. This agreement will reduce trade barriers for Ontario corn, soybeans, and wheat, reduce tariffs for our end-users in the industry, and increase market access for Ontario livestock producers. All these components will help drive the grain industry in Ontario and across Canada toward increased competitiveness in a global market with sustainable and profitable market opportunities. For these reasons, GFO strongly supports the government's efforts in securing CETA.
Thank you.
:
Mr. Chairman and committee members, thank you for the opportunity to speak to the committee today.
As you know, Pulse Canada is a national industry association funded by the farmers who grow peas, lentils, beans, and chickpeas across Canada, as well as by the processing and exporting companies that export pulses to more than 160 countries around the world. Pulse Canada has, for more than 15 years, been focused on market access and the need for a predictable and stable trading environment as one of the members' top priorities.
The Canadian pulse industry is very supportive of CETA and other bilateral and multilateral trade agreements at the government-to-government level, because they provide an opportunity to create a more permanent and lasting trade policy framework that levels the playing field and improves the predictability of trade.
The EU is one of Canada's top three markets for Canadian pulse and special crop exports, and is valued at approximately a quarter of a billion dollars annually. Canada exports more than 180,000 tonnes of peas and lentils to the EU each year, as well as 38% of dry bean exports, 32% of Canadian canary seed exports, and 31% of Canadian mustard seed exports.
CETA represents two key opportunities for the Canadian pulse and special crops industry: market growth in processed products, and regulatory harmonization. While Canadian whole and split pulses and special crops are well established in the EU, and already had duty-free access, exports of further processed products have been restricted by tariffs. CETA creates significant opportunities for our sector through the reduction or elimination of tariffs for pulses that have been processed in Canada and then exported as flour, fibre, starch, and protein. Tariffs for those will be removed immediately, with the exception of the pulse-starch tariff, which will be phased out over seven years.
Why that's important is that the EU leads the way in innovative product launches that focus on health and sustainability. With the rates of obesity and other diet-related illnesses such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes at historic highs, the food industry is responding to consumer and public-sector demands for healthier foods by reformulating existing brands or developing new products. With high levels of protein, fibre, and complex carbohydrates, pulses are optimal ingredients that offer important health benefits.
In fact, earlier this year, experts in diabetes and cardiovascular disease research met to discuss whether existing evidence for pulses was sufficient to warrant a health claim in these areas. The experts unanimously agreed that there is an evidence-based relationship between consumption of beans and cholesterol lowering. The studies consistently showed that a half cup of beans per day lowered both total and LDL-cholesterol, and that the magnitude of the effect was similar to or greater than that of other foods with approved health claims, like plant sterols and barley.
Moving towards the regulatory harmonization opportunities that CETA will create, governments on both sides must fully utilize the agreement to address new technology and innovations in agriculture in the context of synchronous approvals, as well as new technology for detection. As you've heard, GMOs—or genetically modified organisms—and new reduced-risk crop protection products are two cases where regulatory infrastructure lags behind advancing technology. All commodity exports will increasingly face challenges in years to come, as testing becomes cheaper and more sensitive, often capable of measuring down to single parts per billion. In cases where importing countries have zero tolerances, or near-zero tolerances in place for products that have not yet completed the approval process, misaligned timing of approvals alongside the ability to detect minute levels has the potential to be devastating for trade.
Canada has shown tremendous leadership in its development of, and international outreach around, the draft low-level presence policy, which is especially needed in the EU. Since you'll have heard about the critical importance of this policy from other agriculture groups representing GM crops, I would like to use my remaining time to focus on the need for a similar approach for crop-protection products.
These products—herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides—have been critical to improving agricultural productivity. Unfortunately, new crop-protection products and their rapid adoption have challenged market access, as importing countries can take years to establish legal tolerances, with zero or near-zero tolerances that apply in the meantime. For example, in 2011 the pulse industry had a high-profile glyphosate breach and MRL gap that we encountered on lentils to the EU. The issue was that Canadian farmers were using a crop protection product, glyphosate—or Roundup—which was fully approved for use in Canada with exports that were well within Canadian food safety standards.
However the EU had never gone to the process of establishing an MRL for glyphosate on lentils, and consequently applied a near-zero default of 0.1 parts per million, which caused rejections as well as product recalls from retail shelves. As you know, detection of pesticide residues, even when well below levels considered safe by the world's leading regulatory bodies, can create headlines that undermine consumer perceptions of the safety of Canadian agrifood products.
All of this happened solely as a result of lack of regulatory harmonization. I want to be clear to all committee members who may not be as familiar with the policy and processes around the establishment of crop protection product tolerance levels. Canada is among the toughest regulators in the world when it comes to establishing safety margins, and the product pulled from EU retail shelves was compliant with Canadian standards. Underscoring that there was no food safety issue at the heart of this is that, in the following year, the EU itself increased the 0.1 ppm tolerance that it was applying to Canadian lentils by a factor of 100 to 10.0 ppm after review by its own EU health regulators.
The opportunity, as we look ahead, is to use FTAs like CETA to attain regulatory harmonization around both LLP, or low-level presence of GM, and MRLs. We do have a policy development process in place for one, yet we're only getting started on the other. There is a role for leadership.
In closing, as an affluent, quality-conscious market, with strong consumer interest in food that provides health benefits, and with an interest in sustainability, the EU is a natural trading partner for Canadian agriculture, and we expect that CETA will provide many opportunities. However I would like to make an additional closing remark on transportation.
Canadian customers overseas have long memories, and people don't forget when their food isn't delivered on time. While trade and partnership agreements open doors to an enhanced trade relationship, being the reliable supplier year after year is what's needed to keep the relationship going.
The size of this year's crop is bringing clarity, unfortunately, to the underlying problems that can sometimes be lost in the complexity of the transportation system.
Grain production this year is estimated to have exceed 65 million tonnes. The railcar shortfall for the past 16 weeks now exceeds 20,000 cars. Quorum, the federal monitor of the system, reports that vessel waiting times at Port Metro Vancouver are as bad as they've ever seen, noting that this is the third year in a row that Vancouver has experienced these problems and it's getting worse. A system that's frankly not meeting the needs of its users means that Canada isn't meeting the needs of its customers in a consistent and reliable fashion and isn't able to fully take advantage of the enabling conditions that FTAs like CETA create.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
:
That's no problem. If you wouldn't mind doing that, I know it does relate to CETA in that the infrastructure is going to be required when this agreement is put in place. We're going to be moving more product maybe through Thunder Bay, Churchill, or other facilities like Montreal, and it might pull some of that pressure off Vancouver where, if it's raining and raining, it creates other issues in loading too, so there might be other issues.
As far as your 20,000-railcar deficit, I think that's the reality we're faced with: the fact that we've got such a huge crop. They're really doing their best to move it this fall. I talked to one of the rail lines this week. If you look at their movement per hour over the last 10 years, they're well above their weekly averages of what they normally would move, but in the same breath, they feel they have to do better.
I am a little concerned with one of the rail lines. It seems it has a derailment every week, which I think is an issue that needs to be addressed, but a different committee would do that.
You also talked about low-level presence and chemical residue acceptance levels; Barry made this point very clearly. I know we've been trying to deal with GMOs and a process to have the science we have in Canada accepted in Europe, to recognize that our science is safe and sound, and make any agreements based on sound science. Europe has the tendency to let politics bleed into some of these things once in a while, and GMO is probably a good example of that.
Do you see the agreement setting up the platform for negotiations on disagreements like this?
I'll start with you, Gord, and go to you, Barry.
I want to go back to talk about what you just talked about with Mr. Payne. I agree with both of you about having some sort of formalized group that says, “Let's sit down and address these issues”, but let's break it into two pieces.
Gord, you had your example that talked about glyphosate, saying, “Well, they'd said this was the regulatory regime and then all of a sudden it's this”, agreeing that's somewhat arbitrary as to how you plucked the number. And so do you have a sense that this area is more hopeful for you? Because, Gord, you said you felt that was more of a technical issue. Did you see, perhaps, better results in that, in the sense of both parties finding a place where they can land on an agreeable regulatory regime in a relatively speedy amount of time, albeit that's not speedy, but at least it's a relative amount of time?