Frederic Seppey, chief negotiator for Agriculture and
Agri-Food Canada, says a key stumbling block in the trade negotiations with
Europe is a demand to know the origin of the animals for beef and pork exports.
The Europeans apparently are concerned that U.S. beef might
be using Canada as a back door to the European markets.
They don’t need to worry about pork because Canada’s import
regulations for pork packers are so onerous that nobody imports U.S. pigs for
slaughter in Canada.
They have, however, made the same demand for pork
.
On the other hand, Canada is being even more obstinate over
European desires to gain increased access to the Canadian dairy markets,
especially for cheeses.
It’s Canada’s marketing boards that refuse to budge a single
iota on that issue.
"We are within reach
of an agreement, the final stages. It would be such a shame to not
conclude," Seppey said, adding that he expects the two sides to eventually
find a solution on the livestock origin issue.
Other outstanding issues
include access for pharmaceuticals and automobiles, he said.
