January 21, 2009
Canada signs pork trade expansion with India and Hong Kong
The Canadian government has announced the creation of a new working group to promote expanded trade in pork after signing new trade deals with India and Hong Kong.
Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food minister, Gerry Ritz announced a series of trade agreements with both countries including a comprehensive memorandum of understanding with India covering a variety of products, expected to provide a framework to expand exports to India and resolve trade irritants quickly.
The creation of a pork industry working group comes in response to India's approval of the import Canadian swine genetics.
Ritz said the working group builds on that announcement and will focus on opening the Indian market to Canadian pork even further.
He also said the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) will certainly be involved with Jacques Pomerleau of the CPC there, to meet the industry and was also working on some of those details.
The working groups will be finalised within the next few days and weeks.
He added details of who will sit on the working group and how it will move forward will be determined over the next days and weeks.
He notes Canada already sells half a billion dollars in agricultural exports to India and there is room for exports to grow, as India's population increases and people there are looking for new products.
