Manitoba Pork Calls for Outreach, Consultation and Cooperation During CUSMA Review

The General Manager of Manitoba Pork is calling on Canada’s federal and provincial agriculture ministers to prioritise outreach to their U.S. counterparts to highlight the benefits of trade. An article posted to Manitoba Pork's web site and circulated through Manitoba newspapers examines the upcoming review of the Canada U.S. Mexico agreement.

Manitoba Pork General Manager Cam Dahl suggests outreach to our partners in the United States, especially, on agriculture, needs to get ramped up.

Quote-Cam Dahl-Manitoba Pork:

At Manitoba Pork we've seen the value first hand from ministers going to the U.S. and making that effort to sit down with their counterparts. I don't think we need every minister to visit every state but I do think that there should be an objective of highlighting individual states that are important to individual provinces and seeing if we can reach out to as many of those agriculture states with whom we do business while this review is underway.I think it's critically important and that would require the federal provincial and territorial ministers to develop a strategic plan.

What is our plan for outreach to empathize the benefits of trade both in terms of farm income, consumer prices as well as food security for North America.
Then we need to have plan for going into this review. What do we need to make sure that we preserve in the Canada U.S. Mexico agreement, what do we absolutely need to draw a line in the sand on that can't change and where some changes might be beneficial to producers on both sides of the border? But that requires some consultation.The U.S. has begun their consultations.I would ask that the federal and provincial agriculture ministers do the same and start that consultative process as quickly as possible.

Dahl suggests there's an understanding among elected state representatives and industry leaders that trade with Canada is important and we need to working with those like-minded partners and helping them to influence the administration.