Market Access and the Role of the Market and Industry Services Branch

1. Market Access and the Role of the Market and Industry Services Branch Canadian Forage & Grassland AssociationDecember 2010

2. Outline • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada • General Overview • Market and Industry Services Branch (MISB) • Roles and Responsibilities • Grains & Oilseeds Division • Market Access Secretariat (MAS) • Roles and Responsibilities • Status of China Protocol

3. AAFC • Our Mandate: AAFC provides information, research and technology, and policies and programs to achieve security of the food system, health of the environment and innovation for growth. • The Minister of AAFC is responsible for all matters relating to agriculture. • Including: support for agricultural productivity and trade; • stabilizing farm incomes; • encouraging research and development; and • responsible for the inspection and regulation of animals and plant-life forms. • The Minister has been assigned responsibility for coordinating rural development and enhancing the quality of rural life.

4. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada: Basic Structure • Minister’s Office • Deputy Minister’s Office • Strategic Policy Branch • Research Branch • Farm Financial Programs Branch • Agri-Environment Services Branch • Market and Industry Services Branch

5. Market and Industry Services Branch • MISB works with the agri-food sector to enhance its global competitiveness and increase the sector’s share of both domestic and international markets for agriculture and agri-food products. • With an emphasis on market access, the branch provides market information and analysis to industry and government decision makers.

6. Market and Industry Services Branch includes • Operations Directorate • Food Value Chain Bureau • Value Chain Roundtables • Sector development • grains & oilseeds, special crops, pulses; red meats, dairy, poultry; horticulture; food processors • International Markets Bureau • Canada Brand • Global Analysis Division • Agrifood Trade Service • AgriMarketing Program • Negotiations and Multilateral Trade Policy Directorate • Bilateral Relations and Technical Trade Policy Directorate • Market Access Secretariat

7. Grains & Oilseed Division (GAOD) • GAOD part of Food Value Chain Bureau (FVCB) under the Markets And Industry Services Branch (MISB) • Includes Special Crops (and forages) and Pulses as of September 2010 • GAOD’s Mission: • To support a dynamic, vibrant, domestically and internationally competitive Canadian grains and oilseed sector. • GAOD is divided into two groups: • Industry Services Group • Market Analysis Group • Program Liaison Role

8. Challenges for Market Access • Canada adheres to, and relies upon, science-based regulations and international standards for the growth of our agricultural sector. • Although market access issues are oftentimes technical in nature, their resolution can be impeded by trade policy and other economic objectives. • Need timely resolutions of issues to increase exports. • Need to mitigate risks of future disruptions.

9. MISB support for Market Access • Negotiations and Multilateral Trade Policy Directorate • Responsible for the negotiation of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements. • Bilateral Relations and Technical Trade Policy Directorate • Is responsible for securing, expanding and protecting the negotiated access of Canadian agricultural and agri-food exports to foreign markets, and enabling Canadian industry to identify and take advantage of market opportunities as a result of this access. • Market Access Secretariat

10. Market Access Secretariat (MAS) • Minister Ritz announced the creation of the AAFC Market Access Secretariat in January 2009. • An initial response to industry recommendations on how to strengthen Canada’s market access approach. • Designed to improve the level of coordination between key players to build more effective consultation mechanisms to help strategically pursue, expand and maintain markets • Other Federal Partners (e.g. CFIA, DFAIT) • Provinces and Territories • Industry Stakeholders

11. MAS: Strategic Approach • The MAS has two overarching functions: • Rapid response: MAS engages in addressing urgent market access issues, as needed, with in-house technical expertise, co-located from the CFIA; and • Sustained engagement: MAS will drive the development and implementation of country strategies and work plans for priority markets

12. MAS: The Focus • Ten priority markets, divided into two categories, focus the market access agenda for the current year: • Emerging markets: China, Russia, India and Indonesia; and • Established markets: E.U., U.S., Japan, Mexico, South Korea and Chinese Taipei. • While priority markets focus our strategic efforts, issues in other markets continue to be addressed, but in a more targeted, issue-specific manner.

13. Export of Canadian Alfalfa Hay to China • Chronology of events: Then to Now. • With the interest of the Canadian hay industry, the CFIA approached China’s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in an effort to export hay to China. • CFIA provided information for China to conduct a Pest Risk Assessment (PRA) on timothy hay first (based, at the time, on the issue around verticillium wilt and alfalfa seed and the fact that other large exporters deal in timothy hay). • The US had been working on access for alfalfa hay and exporters in Canada, affiliated with counterparts in the US, were interested in exporting alfalfa hay it moved ahead of timothy in the PRA queue and consideration by China. • Through a PRA, AQSIQ identified a number of quarantine pest that could be associated with alfalfa hay originating from Canada.

14. China Protocol Cont’d • July 2009, Canada and China signed a “Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary Cooperative Arrangement for the export of alfalfa hay to China” that identifies a total of 29 plant pests. • September 2009, AQSIQ sent a team of officials to evaluate hay production and processing practices in Western Canada. • Later 2009, AQSIQ, sent a letter to CFIA outlining the concerns that CFIA would need to address before final approval allowing the import of alfalfa from Canada to occur. • March 2010, CFIA provided a copy of the revised hay certification program and supporting manual to AQSIQ for their review.

15. China Protocol Cont’d • June 2010, during the Canada-China Plant Health Technical Working Group, AQSIQ identified a number of concerns in the documents that Canada submitted earlier in the year. • CFIA made the final amendments to the Canadian Hay certification protocol (CHCP) and supporting manual to address China’s concerns. • Status: as of December 13, 2010, the CFIA has sent the final amendments to Chinese authorities for their review and approval.

16. Thank You Merci!