January 22, 2018 – As meetings on the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) take place in Tokyo this week and Chile in March, the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) is urging the Government of Canada to be part of the deal. The CPTPP provides a significant value-added growth opportunity for the Canadian canola industry and the 250,000 jobs it supports across the country.
“We urge the Government of Canada to sign on to the CPTPP without delay,” says Jim Everson, president of the CCC. “There are substantial benefits to Canadians in participating in this trade deal and substantial threats in missing out on it.”
The CPTPP creates new opportunity. Competitive access to world markets is essential to the canola industry as more than 90% of canola produced in Canada is exported. The CPTPP would open new markets for value-added canola products by eliminating canola oil and canola meal tariffs and establishing more effective rules to prevent non-tariff barriers. When tariffs are fully eliminated in Japan and Vietnam over five years, exports of Canadian canola oil and meal could increase by up to $780 million1 per year.
The CPTPP keeps Canada from slipping behind competitors. Australia already has a free trade agreement with Japan that is eliminating tariffs on Australian canola oil, putting Canadian canola oil at a competitive disadvantage. “Every year that passes without implementation means that Canada falls further behind – risking our current canola exports to Japan of more than $1.2 billion annually,” says Everson. “The CPTPP is the best opportunity to quickly restore competitive access to the Asia-Pacific and unlock growth in canola exports to benefit the entire canola value chain.”
The CPTPP is an important enabling step for the canola industry to increase value-added processing and productivity, and help achieve the government’s Budget 2017 goal to increase Canadian agri-food exports by $20 billion by 2025. “Achieving the canola industry’s goals, which include increased value-added processing, will deliver $3.5 billion in additional exports,” says Everson.
The industry’s strategic plan, Keep it Coming 2025, includes the objective of significantly increasing the amount of canola processed in Canada over the next 10 years. Processing 14 million tonnes of canola in Canada requires that barriers to exporting canola oil and meal are removed – such as tariffs that the CPTPP would eliminate.
The Canola Council of Canada is a full value chain organization representing canola growers, processors, life science companies and exporters. Keep it Coming 2025 is the strategic plan to ensure the canola industry’s continued growth, demand, stability and success – achieving 52 bushels per acre to meet global market demand of 26 million metric tonnes by the year 2025. Visit canolacouncil.org to learn more.
1Potential impacts of tariff elimination reflect a consensus of the canola value chain – which includes processors and exporters with in-depth knowledge of international market dynamics. Members were informed by research incorporating general equilibrium modeling that examined impacts of a TPP on each sector of the 12 countries’ economies under alternative scenarios. The study was completed by Dan Ciuriak, a former deputy chief economist for the Federal government’s department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. For more information, view the report titled “Canola Market Impacts under Alternative TPP Scenarios”.
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Media may contact:
Heidi Dancho, Director, Communications
204-982-2108
danchoh@canolacouncil.org
