“I look forward to working with the team in advocating on behalf of Canada’s meat industry and delivering value to members. It will be a pleasure to continue working in the agriculture and agri-food space in Ottawa,” Larkin said in a Dec. 9 LinkedIn post.

The Canadian Meat Council represents members of the Canadian meat processing industry.

Earlier this month, Larkin announced he would step down from his role at Grain Growers of Canada. December will be Larkin’s final month at the organization. He’ll officially assume the CEO role on Jan. 19, 2026, the Canadian Meat Council said in a news release.

“He brings the strategic understanding, relationship-building skills and member-focused approach needed to position our industry for long-term success,” said council board chair Russ Mallard.

The meat council said the transition comes at a “critical time for CMC and the broader meat industry,” given growing pressures in areas like trade and regulation.

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“The chance to demonstrate our commitment to such an important market is an opportunity that we are very excited about.” said David Typer, chair of the Canadian Meat Advocacy Board, in a Canadian Meat Council news release.

“We will soon begin our search for a China representative. Once the hiring process is complete, operations will be launched.”

The Canadian Meat Advocacy Office is a collaboration between the Canadian Meat Council, Canadian Pork Council and the Canadian Cattle Association.

The group called the office a tangible demonstration that the Canadian pork and beef sectors are eager to have a stronger presence in the Chinese market.

Goals of the office include advancing the interests of Canadian red meat in China, establishing and enhancing the presence of Canadian meat in the Chinese market, addressing market access issues, mitigating potential trade disruption, and building trust with Chinese officials, industry leaders according to a job posting on recruiting website Glassdoor.

Red meat is just one sector that has struggled with fraught relations between Canada and China. In 2019, China blocked shipments of Canadian pork and beef, citing bogus export certificates, as tensions escalated following the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. China also stopped purchasing Canadian canola seed, citing pest concerns.

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Both organizations highlighted the need for an African Swine Fever trade recovery program to regain market access and stabilize the industry in the case of an outbreak. They also expressed their needs for a reliable agricultural workforce and asked the government to prioritize solutions to support the industry’s year-round needs.

“These were important days for our industry,” said CPC chair René Roy. “By joining forces with the Canadian Meat Council, we presented a united front to advocate for the priorities of the Canadian pork sector. Our conversations emphasized the urgent need to address challenges like ASF, expand trade opportunities, and agriculture’s unique labour needs, priorities which are crucial for sustaining and growing our industry. We look forward to continuing to work with policymakers to advance these priorities.”

“Our joint lobby day showcased the power of collaboration,” said Chris White, president and CEO of CMC and Canada Pork. “Together, we were able to effectively spotlight issues affecting both producers and processors in a way that demonstrates our industry’s cohesive vision for the future. We are grateful to all the parliamentarians and officials who joined us and look forward to building on these discussions.”

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The organizations involved in Canada’s National Beef Strategy — the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canada Beef Breeds Council, Beef Cattle Research Council, Canada Beef, The National Cattle Feeders’ Association, Canadian Meat Council and Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef have announced new 2030 goals.

Goals have been announced on three topics so far — greenhouse gas and carbon sequestration; animal health and welfare and land use and biodiversity — with another four topics to come next year.

Strategy organizations have set a goal to “safeguard the existing 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon stored on lands managed with beef cattle,” on top of sequestering an additional 3.4 million tonnes of carbon every year through grazing management and a focus on soil health.

Those gains would reflect the change if all tame pasture and hay acres sequestered carbon at half of the 70-year historical rate, the team developing the goals have said.

The goals would also see the industry’s greenhouse gas emission intensity drop by 33 per cent.

“We looked at what our long-term performance was in a number of areas and said, ‘What if we just continued to do what we have historically?'” said Brenna Grant, Canfax manager and one of the presenters of the goals at their launch on Wednesday (Sept. 16).

“And then we talked about some major breakthroughs — major breakthroughs in terms of technology and innovation or major breakthroughs in terms of adoption rates for certain practices.”

Those breakthrough scenarios are anticipated to create the desired emissions drop.

On animal health, organizations hope to see a 92 per cent reproductive efficiency across the industry (up from 85 per cent reported in 2018), refocus breeding on traits that support animal health such as calving ease and polled genes, encourage management strategies around things like pain relief, and create a national monitoring system to track practices. Other goals would better outline best antimicrobial practices to, “ensure the effectiveness of existing and future antimicrobials is preserved.

Other goals orient around maintaining the native grassland used for beef production and encouraging ecosystems on grazing land. The 2016 census of agriculture noted a 4.4 per cent decline of tame and native pastures from 2011 to 2016 as more producers opted for annual crops.

“We knew that we needed a market mechanism in order to achieve this,” Grant said. “So yes, focusing on economic viability of producers, but also by supporting programs that incentivize conservation and working with other crop groups across Canada to make sure that this happens.”

Dennis Laycraft, executive vice-president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, said the implementation of those goals will depend largely on increasing the efficiency of each operation.

According to documents on the strategy’s website, some of those tools include increased vaccination, the adoption of different pasture management and low-stress handling, increased extension, encouraging feed plans, body condition scoring, and feed testing, pursuing more research on pasture management, and more extension and education, among others.

“They’re ambitious goals,” Laycraft admitted. “But our producer network that we worked with when we set this up really encouraged us to follow ambitious goals. I think Canada will be one of the world leaders and, at the same time, it is our goal to make sure whenever we do this we actually make our industry stronger in the process.”

The organizations expect to launch 2030 goals on water; beef quality and food safety; human health and safety and technology next year.

For more details, keep an eye on upcoming issues of the Manitoba Co-operator.

— Alexis Stockford is a reporter for the Manitoba Co-operator.

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The news agency quoted a notice from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada which said the Canadian embassy in Beijing had been informed of the boost in inspections.

AAFC’s notice, according to Reuters, said Chinese officials were citing “recent cases of non-compliance of pork shipments” for the move and were also connecting it to anti-smuggling efforts and limiting risk of African swine fever.

Outbreaks of African swine fever have been reported in hogs in nearly every region of mainland China since the disease first appeared there last August.

Some analysts have predicted China’s hog herd could lose up to 200 million pigs to the disease or culls, with ripple effects through meat and livestock feed markets worldwide.

Reuters on Tuesday also quoted a Canadian Meat Council (CMC) memo to members in which the meatpacking industry body warned members to “increase significantly the surveillance and compliance with all requirements.”

Any non-compliance “could jeopardize our entire meat exports to China, which would have a disastrous effect on all CMC members,” the council’s memo was quoted as saying.

Two Canadian pork exporters’ permits to ship to China were suspended last month due to what Canadian officials described as a labeling problem with shipments.

China in March also suspended canola export licenses for two major Canadian grain firms and Chinese buyers have since been unwilling to purchase Canada’s canola seed otherwise.

Bilateral trade relations between Canada and China took a turn for the worse back in December when Canadian officials arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer for Chinese tech company Huawei, in Vancouver.

Meng, now in Vancouver under house arrest, was detained at the request of the U.S. government, which seeks her extradition on fraud charges relating to alleged violation of U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Reuters also reported Tuesday that a federal court hearing will be held Thursday to set further court dates related to the extradition case.

However, no date for an extradition hearing itself has yet been scheduled, Canadian justice department officials were quoted as saying. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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The pact aims to eliminate tariffs on industrial and farm products across an 11-nation bloc whose trade totaled $356.3 billion last year (all figures US$).

This week’s compromise saves member nations from having to renegotiate the ambitious trade pact to accommodate the New Zealand government’s demands for firm measures to rein in housing prices.

It also brings member countries closer to an important victory in support of free trade to be finalized at an Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit next week in Vietnam’s central city of Danang.

“The momentum towards (an agreement) at the meeting in Danang has significantly increased,” said Japan’s chief TPP negotiator, Kazuyoshi Umemoto.

Negotiators gathered for three days in Urayasu, just east of Tokyo, to narrow down which terms of the original 12-nation deal to suspend, so as to salvage the pact at the Vietnam summit.

Canada though played down the chances of any kind of formal deal next week, citing the need to ensure the provisions in a new TPP treaty would not cause problems at ongoing talks to update the trilateral North American Free Trade Agreement. The NAFTA talks are due to wrap up next March.

“We’re moving quite expeditiously but it’s probably going to take a little longer, so as for a signature (next week) — that’s highly optimistic,” said an Ottawa source familiar with the government’s position.

‘Competitive advantage’

Canadian farm groups have pressed their officials for a deal that would help them expand market access to Japan and the other TPP countries, including Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

Among other TPP nations, Canada already has free trade pacts in place with Chile, Peru and, through NAFTA, Mexico.

“Canada’s pork producers request that the government of Canada work to ensure a TPP-11 agreement is implemented without jeopardizing the negotiated outcomes on market access that were agreed to in the original TPP agreement,” Canadian Pork Council chair Rick Bergmann, a producer from Steinbach, Man., said in a release Tuesday.

A TPP-11 deal would give Canadian canola “a competitive advantage over competing oilseed products entering TPP countries, such as U.S. soybean oil into Japan,” the Canola Council of Canada said Tuesday in a separate release.

The Canadian Meat Council on Wednesday said a TPP-11 deal would help boost Canadian meat exports to Japan by $500 million.

Without quick implementation of a deal, the council added, Canada “risks losing a critical competitive advantage to other large exporters such as the European Union.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who was sworn in last week, has announced plans to ban foreign home purchases that should curb speculation without forcing TPP countries to renegotiate the pact.

Japan hopes the deal, which links 11 countries with a combined GDP of $12.4 trillion, can show other nations it is able to champion free trade.

It could also help Japan resist U.S. pressure for a two-way trade pact, which is likely to come up when U.S. President Donald Trump visits, from Sunday until Tuesday, for a summit with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The TPP pact was thrown into doubt when Trump pulled the U.S. out in January to prioritize protecting jobs. New Zealand and Vietnam subsequently pushed to renegotiate it, but countries have been able to narrow their differences in the final stretch.

— Reporting for Reuters by Kaori Kaneko and Stanley White in Urayasu and David Ljunggren in Ottawa. Includes files from AGCanada.com Network staff.

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The wildfire situation in B.C. is unprecedented and many fires are centred in some of the heaviest populated areas for cattle production. The CCA has asked the federal government for a quick response to the wildfire disaster as the need for resources is urgent. At time of writing, wildfires have ravaged more than 150,000 hectares of land and consumed fencing and other crucial private and public infrastructure. Ranchers in affected areas are having to leave behind an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 cattle, clearly not an easy decision to make but often the only choice when cattle are dispersed throughout hundreds of heavily forested acres and not easily accessible to be rounded up. With the wildfire situation far from over, it will be many weeks before the damage and impact to industry can be fully assessed.

As an initial start, the CCA is requesting the federal government provide a tax deferral for B.C. producers who chose to sell cattle, and assistance to deal with infrastructure and livestock losses and transportation of cattle and feed. In mid-July, the urgency was still to get the fires under control and prevent further losses. In the meantime, wheels are turning to prepare for disaster relief support through Agri-Recovery to help the B.C. industry regain its footing. In July, CCA raised the urgency in Ottawa around the need for more fire-fighting resources and did so again at the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Agriculture Ministers annual meeting in St. John’s, NL. As we work through this difficult time together, the CCA’s thoughts and prayers are with all the hard-working farm families and everyone in B.C. impacted by the wildfires. The Canadian Red Cross is accepting donations through the British Columbia Fires Appeal. You can text FIRES to 45678 to donate $10 to the fund.

There have been several developments on the trade front for CCA to stay on top of. On July 17, the Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released its negotiating objectives to revise NAFTA. On the same date, the CCA submitted its advice for the negotiations to the Government of Canada.

We are pleased to see that there is alignment in several areas between the CCA’s objectives and USTR’s. At the top of the list, CCA places a high objective on ensuring that any effort by the U.S. to reinstate a discriminatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) program is rejected. The 18-page USTR document contains no mention of COOL.

Furthermore, both documents are aligned on the principle that NAFTA should maintain existing reciprocal duty-free market access. Though general in nature, the language in the USTR document regarding sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs, trade facilitation, rules of origin and regulatory practices all could be consistent with CCA’s list of objectives in these areas. Suffice it to say, there is scope in the USTR objectives for many of the CCA positions and we will continue to advise Canada’s negotiators to seek the achievement of our specific proposals.

Overall, the CCA supports the initiative to renegotiate, or modernize NAFTA, and we see it as an opportunity to improve an already beneficial agreement. Now knowing the USTR objectives, our view that there is opportunity for improvement remains intact. Of course, we take nothing for granted and will continue to be engaged to maximize the potential outcomes of the process for Canadian beef producers.

The CETA will be implemented on September 21, 2017. As of this date, Europe will open initial quantities for duty-free importation of Canadian beef. The CCA is continuing to work with the Canadian Meat Council and government to demonstrate the efficacy of our food safety protocols to enable the larger facilities to export up to the potential of the agreement. The CCA will roll out videos this summer to explain the requirements for producers interested in enrolling and raising cattle under the CFIA’s Canadian Program for Certifying Freedom from Growth Enhancing Products (GEPs) for Export of Beef to the EU.

Negotiations are underway to bring TPP into effect amongst the 11 remaining countries. There was a session in Japan in early July and likely will be another in late August. We are cautiously optimistic that these talks are gaining traction and hopefully aimed for a decision point when leaders of the 11 meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in November. Related, we expect to see the government’s response on TPP to the House Standing Committee on Trade in early August.

The CCA is urging the government to step up efforts with China, after the U.S. in June gained access to China for boneless beef, bone-in beef, chilled beef, and a list of offal products. Canadian beef needs at least equivalent access in China as granted to the U.S., under conditions that are commercially viable for the entire industry value chain.

All this activity should make for an interesting semi-annual meeting. The Canadian Beef Industry Conference is scheduled for August 15-17 in Calgary. I hope to see you there.

Until next time.

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Chris White is the new president and CEO of the Canadian Meat Council. He comes to the council with 20 years experience in government and industry relations as chief of staff for five federal cabinet ministers and vice-president of government relations in the finance, insurance, and auto sectors. The Canadian Meat Council represents 400 federally inspected meat processing establishments with annual sales of $28 billion, including exports of $6.1 billion, and 66,000 jobs making it the largest component of this country’s food processing sector.

Grant Zalinko has been promoted to the position of executive director of the livestock branch in the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture. He was previously the manager of the livestock development unit and chiefly responsible for the development and updating of the ministry’s livestock strategy. He and his wife also manage a small commercial cattle operation near Rouleau.

Garner Deobald of Hodgeville, Sask., has been re-elected president of the Canadian Beef Breeds Council. Joining him on the board are vice-president Roger Peters from Red Deer, and new directors Jay Cross, David Sibbald, and Tessa Verbeek from Calgary, and Reed Rigney from Westlock, Alta.

Bruce Holmquist of Saskatoon is the new president of the Canadian Western Agribition, an organization he has been involved with as a volunteer and executive member for the past 40 years. He is also the general manager of the Canadian Simmental Association. Joining him on the executive are: vice-president Chris Lee from Arcola, past president Stewart Stone of Regina and directors at large Kim Hextall of Grenfell, Ross Macdonald from Lake Alma and Bryce Thompson of Regina.

David Sibbald is the new president and chairman of the board of the Calgary Stampede. He is also the current president of the Canadian Angus Association and will continue to fill that role until the conclusion of the CAA annual meeting in Brandon on June 10. His term as president of the Stampede board runs until 2019.

Cattlemen Tim Oleksyn and George Cooper were inducted into the Saskatchewan Agricultural Hall of Fame at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon on April 22, 2017.

Tim Oleksyn, a rancher and farmer from Shellbrook has been a supporter of beef research for decades. He has been a board member and chair of the Western Beef Development Centre and the Beef Cattle Research Council and served on the board of the Saskatchewan Agriculture Development Fund, Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute and the new Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence (LFCE). He is currently on the fundraising committee to secure the remaining funds needed to make the LFCE a reality.

George Cooper of West Bend served on the boards of the Canadian Shorthorn Association, Saskatchewan Livestock Association and Canadian Western Agribition, and was president of the Regina Bull Sale. He passed away in August 2016.

Also inducted were Art Mainil a founding member of the Palliser Wheat Growers Association and founding president of the Weyburn Inland Terminal, soil researcher Bob McKercher, seed grower and community advocate Donna Edwards, and biotech researcher Wilf Keller.

Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC) presented three Awards of Distinction during the recent Livestock Care Conference in Leduc to recognize individuals or groups that have made exceptional contributions to farm animal care in Alberta.

The Communication Award was presented to Alberta Beef Quality Starts Here, a non-profit, industry-supported organization that has operated as the provincial delivery agent for the Verified Beef Production (VBP) program since 2003. In 2016 the agency had to step up its training and communication activities to include three new modules addressing animal care, stewardship and biosecurity under the VBP Plus (VBP+) program.

The Award for Industry Leadership was presented to Jackie Wepruk, a founder and current general manager of the National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC). The NFACC has facilitated the development of updated codes of practice for the care and handling of different livestock species in Canada, and the development of animal care assessment programs.

The Award for Innovation was presented to veterinarian and long-time farm animal care advocate Dr. Merle Olson, for his tireless efforts in the research, development and commercialization of economical pharmaceutical options for pain management and parasite control in livestock. As vice-president of research and development at Solvet Dr. Olson developed Meloxicam Oral Suspension — a new product for cattle available at www.afac.ab.ca.

Dr. Donald E. Buckingham has been named CEO of the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute, an Ottawa-based independent non-profit research organization that develops policy options for the agricultural and agri-food sectors. Buckingham is currently chair of the Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal. His new position is effective July 1, 2017.

The Verified Beef Production Plus (VBP+) program has officially launched a new website, which offers a single-stop comprehensive resource for all matters related to VBP+. It can be found online at verifiedbeefproductionplus.ca.

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Building positive relationships with key influencers is a core element of CCA’s work. It was evident at the CCA’s annual MP reception that we continue to excel in this regard. The reception was a huge success, attracting one of the largest crowds at our events ever. I would like to thank our sponsors the Canadian Meat Council, Beer Canada and Spirits Canada for helping to ensure once again a successful event with the winning combination of Canadian beef, beer and whisky. Our appreciation also goes out to MP Mike Bossio, who delivered remarks on behalf of Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay at the reception.

The pursuit of trade opportunities, particularly in the wake of the U.S. national election, was a key topic at the AGM. The CCA is concerned that the growing anti-trade rhetoric is extremely dangerous to the long-term viability of market-based trade and global economic growth. A fundamental goal of the CCA is to support policies that call for the removal of unnecessary barriers to trade.

For many years, the CCA has built relationships with its international counterparts and governments to advocate for the elimination of tariff and non-tariff trade barriers. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), signed by 12 countries in February 2016, represented a new era of multi-lateral trade that could bring together consumers and producers from a diverse section of Pacific-Rim cultures and nations by establishing a stronger relationship based on sound science and market demand. Most importantly, TPP set a new and high-level precedent for market access for the trade in beef and will serve as an example for other countries to follow.

The CCA travelled to Chile, where trade ministers were meeting March 14-15 to discuss continuing efforts that will lead to implementation of the benefits of the TPP agreement, to emphasize the importance of the TPP and international market access to the livelihood of Canadian beef producers.

On March 14, International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne stated in a speech that Canada was going into the meeting organized by the Government of Chile with an open mind and a constructive attitude.

During the meeting the ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the founding principles of the TPP and shared opinions and views about how best to carry the vision forward. Minister Champagne later stated that: “What is paramount for me as international trade minister is to make sure that Canadian producers, consumers and workers have preferential market access to the very important economies in Asia Pacific.”

CCA’s ability to progress difficult and complicated files and achieve positive results is well known. The latest example occurred in late February when the Government of Canada published amendments in Canada Gazette II permitting irradiation of raw fresh and frozen ground beef. The move gives Canadian consumers the same choice as U.S. consumers, who have been able to purchase irradiated ground beef for more than a decade. The availability of irradiated ground beef in Canada will take time to establish and will depend on consumer demand for this type of product. Nonetheless the approval marks the successful conclusion of an approval process initiated by the CCA nearly 20 years ago.

Strategic partnerships that support the beef industry come in many forms. In March, I was pleased to see McDonald’s Canada become a Foundation Partner of CCA’s youth mentorship program, the Cattlemen’s Young Leaders Program (CYL). McDonald’s joins founding partners Cargill, UFA and MNP in ensuring that the CYL program continues to develop young members of the beef industry. McDonald’s has been a positive force in the Canadian beef industry through its initiatives involved in the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and the Verified Sustainable Beef Pilot Project. McDonald’s also sources 100 per cent of its beef from Canadian ranchers.

On March 8, McDonald’s released an International Women’s Day initiative on social media, and pledged $1 for every share of the video that day, up to $10,000, to youth initiatives in the Canadian agriculture industry. The goal was more than achieved, and we thank McDonald’s for their support.

Finally, we have reached out to the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and state organizations letting them know that our thoughts and prayers are with the farm families impacted by the devastating wildfires in the states of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. We encourage our membership to help out with the relief efforts underway in the impacted states in whatever way they can.

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The latest focus of such efforts is a strategy to deal with the unresolved technical barriers in the European Union that if left unresolved can significantly undermine the potential for Canadian beef exports under the Comprehensive-Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). I have personally discussed CETA with International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland on numerous occasions and am confident that the minister fully appreciates the desire of the Canadian beef industry to gain true meaningful access to the EU.

As part of our effort, CCA was represented by foreign trade vice-chair Doug Sawyer in Brussels last month just prior to Canada signing the agreement to highlight the immense potential of CETA for the Canadian beef sector but also to emphasize the need to resolve the outstanding technical barriers. CCA representatives in Uruguay for the World Meat Congress also had opportunity to discuss the technical issues with European industry counterparts attending the meeting there.

The nature of the unresolved issues in CETA involves the approval of important anti-microbial treatments used in Canadian packing facilities. The Canadian Meat Council, representing federally inspected packers is taking the lead on preparing the dossiers to submit to the European Food Safety Authority to demonstrate the efficacy of citric acid and peroxyacetic acid in reducing bacteria such as E. coli in red meat processing.

In mid-November, following discussion by the CCA foreign trade committee, I had the opportunity to present the CCA’s view on CETA to the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on International Trade. The CCA is supporting the implementation of the CETA and passage of legislation to do so, but we have three conditions. First, we will expect a commitment from the Government of Canada to develop and fully fund a comprehensive strategy utilizing technical, advocacy and political skills to achieve the elimination of the remaining non-tariff barriers to Canadian beef.

Second, we expect that any EU beef or veal imported into Canada is in full compliance with Canadian food safety requirements.

Third, we expect that the beef sector will be afforded the same consideration as other sectors in terms of Government of Canada investment into both beef processing and beef producer operations to help us comply with the complexities of the EU market.

I am pleased to see that Japan ratified the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in November. As a result of this, coupled with the uncertainty in the U.S. over the future of the TPP, CCA is seeking a renewed focus on a Canada-Japan bilateral agreement that could embrace the important details that were negotiated for market access in the TPP.

The CCA supports forward-thinking trade pacts like the TPP which ensure Canadian beef producers can compete fairly in a global marketplace, create jobs for Canadians and contribute to the economic growth and long-term prosperity of the country. Ensuring meaningful trade was the reason CCA past president Dave Solverson travelled to Beijing as part of Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Lawrence MacAulay’s trade mission to China. Importers and exporters he met with in Beijing expressed a keen interest in boosting supplies of Canadian beef under the staged agreement Canada has with China. Industry feels the bone-in access will be a big improvement and will lead to more commercially viable trade. There seemed to be a desire to progress to chilled beef as well. We will continue to work toward creating more opportunities for beef exports to China.

In the U.S., president-elect Donald Trump will need to address his campaign promises to renegotiate and improve existing trade agreements. However, there is no need to worry about those agreements being “torn up” — what’s more likely is they are renegotiated. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has signaled that he is interested in renegotiating NAFTA. While the mechanism to do this has yet to be decided, there are ample opportunities to negotiate through existing working groups and initiatives (such as the U.S. Regulatory Co-operation Council, of which CCA is a member) that are set up for precisely that purpose.

The CCA will be prepared to continue its excellent working relationships with our U.S. counterparts and looks forward to getting to know the people who will be taking up roles in the Trump administration. The Obama administration will continue into mid-January until the inauguration of Trump on Friday, January 20, 2017. In the meantime, Trump will be selecting his advisers and naming his cabinet in a transition process that will continue well into the spring and summer of 2017.

The CCA will work closely with Canadian government officials and the embassy in Washington, D.C. to continue to ensure the interests of Canadian beef producers are well represented.

And on that note, I would like to take this time to wish you and your family a very happy and joyful holiday season and peace in the new year.

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