The general manager of Manitoba Pork says efforts to resolve Mandatory U.S. Country of Origin Labelling will be the focus of a delegation representing Manitoba’s pork industry when it travels to Des Moines, Iowa this week for World Pork Expo.
As part of ongoing efforts to promote open trade Manitoba’s pork industry will be represented at World Pork Expo this week in Des Moines, Iowa.
Andrew Dickson, the general manager of Manitoba Pork, says the number one item on the agenda this year will be U.S. Mandatory Country of Origin Labelling.
The Canadian Consulate in Minneapolis is organizing some meetings with staff representatives from the various Congressional Offices that are represented in Iowa.
We want to go and talk about how to get this matter of Country of Origin Labelling resolved before Canada engages in imposing import tariffs on American products.
As you know, the WTO hearing was completed and it’s report was released indicating that the Americans are in contravention of its international trade obligations, and in the same case Mexico came to the same conclusion, and so the United States now has to try and resolve this matter of COOL between Mexico and Canada before import tariffs are imposed.
Our hope is that in the process of meeting producers at this event, the various leaders of the various farm organizations and Congressional staff we just want to get a message out there that Canada is eager to get this thing resolved.
Dickson says it’s important to remember Manitoba producers essentially get a North American price for their pigs, either a U.S. national price, some combination of Iowa and southern Minnesota prices, or eastern corn belt prices, which are incorporated into formulas used by Canadian processors to pay producers in Canada.
He says, if we want to improve our prices, it’s important that we export pork products out of North America into the world, and by doing that it will raise the domestic price of pork and improve prices on both sides of the border.
