Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting of Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Agriculture

TORONTO, Oct. 11, 2001 -- Federal and provincial agriculture ministers today strengthened their commitment to a long-term action plan to secure a solid future for the sector.

At their annual meeting in Whitehorse this summer, all Ministers set a goal of improving the long-term prosperity of the agriculture and agri-food sector. They agreed this goal can only be achieved by Canada being the world leader in food safety, innovation and environmentally responsible production, to better meet the needs of consumers at home and abroad.

Ministers today outlined a strategy to ensure Canada's excellence in these areas is valued around the world and leads to increased international sales. This strategy will allow better coordination of efforts on market development and investment, international development and technical assistance, trade policy and technical trade issues.

They noted the importance of the sector to Canada's economy and the fact it is a key source of jobs for Canadians. Ministers also noted international trade is extremely important to the industry and that Canadian agri-food products are exported to close to 190 countries at an annual value of more than $23 billion.

In light of this, the importance of leveling the playing field in international agricultural trade was reiterated. They noted Canada has received strong support for its initial negotiating position for World Trade Organization (WTO) agriculture talks. They agreed that Canada continue to build upon that support to achieve its trade policy objectives through strategic alliances with countries that share these objectives.

The federal government will continue to consult and collaborate with provinces and industry during all stages of the WTO negotiations. (Canada's initial negotiating position is available at http://www.agr.ca/cb/news/1999/n90819ae.html, a copy of the action plan agreed to in Whitehorse is available at http://www.agr.ca/cb/fed-prov/fedprov_e.phtml)

Ministers discussed the ongoing WTO agriculture negotiations, the WTO Dairy Panel, and other current trade issues such as the next U.S. Farm Bill, exports of greenhouse tomatoes to the U.S., the U.S. investigation of Canada's wheat trading practises, and seed potato exports to Mexico. They also discussed regional trade negotiations such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas and the proposed Canada-Central America Four (CA4) free trade negotiations.

Ministers agreed to meet on a regular basis to discuss international issues and how to help Canadian farmers and food processors capture new opportunities in foreign markets.

To this end, officials were directed to examine, in consultation with stakeholders, ways in which the federal and provincial governments can further strengthen and better coordinate international agri-food trade activities and target strategies to specific countries, institutions and alliances.

Ministers revisited the key elements of the action plan agreed to in Whitehorse. These elements include strengthening food safety, enhancing environmental performance, improving risk management through safety nets, using science to help the sector create innovative new products and renewing the sector by building on programming that addresses the needs of farmers and helps them adapt to change.

In their discussion of these points, Ministers reviewed various issues such as this season's drought and the current safety net review.

- 30 -