This little piggy went to market: Canada’s pork subsidies cause problems in the TPP

Canada’s agricultural subsidies for pork production have caused issues following the recent decision at the G20 summit to include Canada in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

“Australian pork producers are aware that Canada’s federal and provincial governments bestow countervailable subsidies on the Canadian pig industry,” said Australian Pork Limited CEO Andrew Spencer. “These subsidies cause significant distortions to overseas markets such as Australia, the US and New Zealand.

“Domestic subsidy programs are generally not within the scope of free trade agreements. However, in this case, Canadian agricultural subsidies are so wide-ranging and have such a broad and far-reaching impact on overseas markets it is on these grounds we, along with the US and New Zealand, urge the TPP negotiators and governments to deal with these issues fairly as part of the process.”

President of the US National Pork Producers Council RC Hunt said Canada’s subsidy programs are distorting North American and world pork markets. “Subsidy programs are antithetical to free trade and to the spirit of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations that Canada is entering,” Hunt said.

Australian, New Zealand and US pork producers claim Canada’s subsidy program is counterproductive to the overarching philosophy of the TPP’s goals and ambitions. The producers are strongly urging national trade representatives involved in the TPP negotiations to address the Canadian subsidy issue.

“We support safe free trade with appropriate management of biosecurity and food safety risks,” said Owen Symmans, CEO of New Zealand Pork. “However, we are concerned that Canada enters the TPP with federal and provincial government subsidies for the Canadian pig industry in place.”

Symmans said the Province of Ontario recently enacted a new countervailable subsidy program that ensures Canadian farmers receive a guaranteed return for their pork. “This sort of blatant subsidisation places competing pork producers, who do not subsidise their production, at a distinctive disadvantage,” Symmans said.

Mexico was also voted into the TPP, which includes the US, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The TPP group, with the inclusion of Canada and Mexico, now accounts for nearly 30% of global GDP, which the TPP claims gives it “substantially larger” trading power than the EU.