CPC Applauds Aggressive Timetable for Implementing Canada-South Korea FTA

By Bruce Cochrane

The Canadian Pork Council is applauding the federal government's aggressive timetable for implementing a new Canada-South Korea free trade agreement.

Last week the federal government tabled the text of the Canada-South Korea Free Trade Agreement in the House of Commons opening the door for possible adoption by January 1st.

Canadian Pork Council public relations manager Gary Stordy says the Canadian pork industry strongly advocates completing the agreement as quickly as possible to prevent further deterioration in Canada's competitive position against the United States, the European Union and Chile, all of which already have free trade deals in place.

Gary Stordy-Canadian Pork Council:
There's two products that we do sell into the Korean market.
One is actually a very high value product called the chilled pork.
It's cooled or essentially chilled to a temperature just above freezing and it is shipped essentially fresh into this market and has a shelf life of a short period of time but it has a very high value and frankly in South Korea we had a tremendous market share where the Koreans saw the quality of this product, wanted this product and we were very successful.

Some of the other products that we do sell in this market, it's mainly some of the products that have a lot of bone and meat attached to it, whether it's a leg or what not.
It's a valued product.

It's not a product that we eat a lot of here in Canada but in South Korea they enjoy it for soups and what not and other delicacies.

The third product is that we do sell a number of bellies which certainly helps increase the value of the overall carcass and provides a return for processors and producers.

Stordy notes an American study determined the U.S. agreement with South Korea adds ten dollars to the value of each pig produced and a Canadian free trade agreement is expected to provide similar benefits to the Canadian pork industry.

Source: Farmscape