CMC Welcomes Expanded Meat Access To China

The Canadian Meat Council (CMC) was pleased to learn of the imminent expansion of Canadian meat market access to China. While in China, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the expansion of trade with China for the beef and pork sectors.

The agreement reached recently, between Chinese and Canadian officials, will allow Canadian meat producers to export bone-in beef and fresh chilled beef and pork products.

“As a direct result of this agreement, we could see increased industry exports up to $100M for pork and up to $125M for beef respectively over the next five years” said CMC President, Chris White.

White recently concluded a trip to China to meet with industry stakeholder as part of a business delegation led by Agriculture Minister MacAulay. “I’ve seen first-hand how valuable the economic opportunities will be for our members” White added.

According to a recent study by the Conference Board of Canada commissioned by the CMC, “Canadian red meat product exports to China that occurred between 2010-16, valued at $500M, support about 5,800 Canadian jobs and $160M in government revenues on an ongoing basis.” It has been found that “for each $100M increase in exports, 1,161 jobs are created across Canada.”

This new market access is the result of the hard work of many organizations and stakeholders. The CMC particularly recognizes the leadership of Minister of Agriculture, Lawrence MacAulay as well as work and dedication of Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) officials who successfully negotiated on the industry’s behalf.

The CMC looks forward to expanded trade opportunities with China for the meat sector. The Council also looks forward to working alongside our government including Minister Champagne, Minister of International Trade, to continue the important work towards the negotiation of a Canada-China Free-Trade Agreement.

The Canadian Meat Council represents Canada's federally registered meat packers and processors as well as the industry's numerous suppliers of equipment, technology and services. For more than 96 years the mission of the Council has been to advocate on behalf of the needs of its members to secure and improve Canada's global meat competitiveness.