“Exploratory” talks on a free trade deal with Turkey, plus an extended break from regulations that would otherwise stall deliveries to India, are among the benefits for Canadian pulse crop growers from a three-nation trade mission.
Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, in a release Thursday from New Delhi, announced “exploratory discussions on a mutually beneficial free trade agreement with Turkey” following missions to Turkey, India and Italy.
Pulse Canada, whose CEO Gordon Bacon was on the trade mission, estimated Thursday that a free trade deal reducing Turkey’s import duties on Canadian pulses by up to 20 per cent would “strengthen the investment environment and continue to drive export growth, which has expanded by 400 per cent since 2005.”
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Pulses loom large in Canada’s ag exports to Turkey, rising from under $20 million in 2006 to over $220 million in 2008 due to a drought in that country, and totalling over $100 million in each of the last two years, Pulse Canada said.
Turkey has emerged in recent years as an important trans-shipment point for pulses moving into neighbouring countries in the Middle East and North Africa, the pulse industry agency noted.
“With a growing population and increased demand, a free trade agreement that eliminates import duties on pulses, strengthens the investment environment for Canadian and Turkish companies and allows year-round access to this market would open a significant opportunity for Canadian pulse growers and exporters,” Bacon said in a Pulse Canada release.
Ritz reported that the visit to Turkey also led to a “comprehensive memorandum of understanding to drive exchanges in science and technical information that will benefit both countries in the areas of production and processing of value-added products.
As a result of the meeting, there was “agreement to begin technical negotiations to resolve a number of market access issues” with Turkey, the government said.
India agreement
Ritz’s release Thursday also announced a continued exemption at ports in India for Canadian pulse crops from plant protection requirements that otherwise delay crops’ release.
Ritz and his Indian counterpart Sharad Pawar agreed to find a long-term solution which would allow pulse crop fumigation at Indian ports, “reducing uncertainty, significant delays and costs to Canadian farmers while ensuring uninterrupted supply of pulses to India.”
Under the agreement between the two ministers, Indian officials will now review a draft technical document as the basis for such a solution.
In the meantime, Canada’s pulse crop industry gets an extended exemption from India’s requirements until the end of March 2011.
“Once India implements a solution, the risk to the supply chain will be reduced, which will benefit Canadian pulse growers and traders as well as Indian consumers,” Pulse Canada’s Bacon said Thursday.
“Having ministers agree on a process is a huge step forward in finding suitable plant protection policies that ensure trade is not jeopardized by policies that create uncertainty.”
Canadian pulses account for almost half of India’s pulse imports, with exports valued at $533 million in 2009, Pulse Canada noted.
