Meat industry welcomes CPTPP signing
The 11 countries signed the trade deal in Chile yesterday (Thursday 8 March) which will see tariffs between members cut as well as regulations for exporting within the CPTPP.
The countries involved are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The US had previously been a potential member before President Trump decided against being involved.
The meat industries from the various nations have praised the deal.
Canadian Meat Council (CMC) president and ceo Chris White said the signing of the deal would be a big boost for the domestic meat industry.
“CMC is confident that this deal has the potential to increase beef and pork sales by at least $1 billion, creating the potential to support an over 11,000 new jobs here in Canada.”
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) and the Meat Industry Association (MIA) also welcomed the signing. B+LNZ chief executive Sam McIvor said it will save the sector NZ$63 million in tariffs.
“The New Zealand sheep and beef sector exports close to 90% of its production totaling $7.5 billion, on which we paid $231 million of tariffs in 2016,” he explained.“Over one-third of the total tariffs paid in 2016 were to CPTPP member countries, with a significant proportion of those tariffs paid in Japan ($73 million) - where applied tariffs on our beef exports are 38.5%.
“In the absence of CPTPP, we have been losing significant market share in countries where our competitors have preferential access – particularly Australia’s beef access into Japan.”
MIA chief executive Tim Ritchie added the CPTPP will immediately put New Zealand’s red meat sector on “a level playing field”.
“It will also prevent Japan from imposing a safeguard tariff on New Zealand beef like they did last year on frozen beef raising the tariff to 50%,” he said. “CPTPP will give New Zealand a competitive advantage over the United States beef industry, which will continue to face either the 38.5% tariff or the higher 50% tariff if the safeguards are triggered again.”
Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) ceo Patrick Hutchinson said members were “excited by the deal”.
“Under this deal we’ll see reduction or elimination of beef tariffs in Japan, Canada and Mexico over 5-15 years,” he said. “Most of Japan’s tariffs on beef offal, cheek and head meat and processed meat products will be eliminated or reduced over the coming 10-15 years. Plus there’ll be immediate elimination of Mexican tariffs on animal fats, immediate elimination of Canadian offal, processed meat and animal fat tariffs, and elimination within eight years of Mexican sheep meat tariffs.
“This agreement is excellent news right across the supply chain. It’s great for producers and it’s great for those businesses that process raw materials and export value-added products. It’s vital for our sector that all parts of the agribusiness value chain have the best opportunity to maximise existing markets, reach into new markets and continue to build a thriving and sustainable industry, and today’s signing is a very big step in the right direction.”
