Trade Expected to be Among Top Pork Sector Issues in 2018

The past Chair of the Saskatchewan Pork Development Board expects matters related to trade to be one of the major issue in 2018 for Saskatchewan’s pork sector

by Bruce Cochrane for FarmScape Online

In 2017 issues related to trade, including discussions surrounding the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, emerged as key issues.

“Being able to export is very significant for us,” Retiring Director and Sask Pork past-Chair Florian Possberg told FarmScape Online. “If we weren’t able to export our industry would have to shrink rather dramatically and, of course, we’ve had a very turbulent year in trade.”

“NAFTA is a big issue there”

 

Possberg also notes Saskatchewan exports 70 to 80 percent of the pork it produces so trade is very important to the pork sector.

“NAFTA is being revisited and the United States and Mexico are either one, two or three of our export destinations for Canadian pork, so NAFTA is a big issue there.”

Possberg says it’s not a bad news story yet because all of those things could turn out to be just fine.

“Number one, two or three is also Japan and the TPP discussions going on. We do have a preferred supplier status with Japan now, however, if we’re not successful in being part of a TPP, we’re fearing that our ability to compete with places like the United States, Mexico and the EU will be severely hampered so those are very big question marks.”

On the other hand he says, if things go wrong, they could end up being very problematic for us.