International Trade committee  From the health side, even though the WTO can be dysfunctional, there are systems with the WTO, the OIE, that help manage the discussion moving forward, and that countries follow those rules.

International Trade committee  I should address some of the labour challenges. I'll probably move it a little bit off CEs and whatnot where agriculture is benefiting from programming that allows us to go to countries as an industry, promote our product, build those relationships and work collaboratively with trade commissioners or other participants.

International Trade committee  If I could add, there is not for pork, other than the need for recognition of disease control zones. That way, if the other countries were to meet and be able to access into the Canadian market but unfortunately had a reportable disease that would essentially stop trade, they're able to demonstrate that they have areas that are free of it and areas that have it so they're able to continue to trade with us.

International Trade committee  I would just say that there are methods and ways of tracking to make sure that it comes from where it says it's from in terms of the country of origin. There are two areas where there are aspects—

International Trade committee  Oh. So sorry. Are we good now?

International Trade committee  I'm sorry. My French is not very good.

International Trade committee  There is a fairly good traceability system established in terms of ways of tracking movement from source to destination. There are two areas where there's probably some opportunity to improve. One is e-certification. Instead of relying on a paperwork process, it would move to the electronic.

International Trade committee  There is a lot of incredible opportunity within that region. Pork is the preferred protein. At the moment, even though there are some issues, there is opportunity for growth. We do look at some of the free trade agreements and the terms and at building bilateral relationships. Doing so provides the opportunity for our industry to be flexible on where product is going to be shipped.

International Trade committee  With pork and beef, we have a history of dealing with country of origin labelling disputes in the U.S. where the laws had an impact of over $1 billion. To get that resolved, it took over seven years through a WTO process. There are situations—and it's also impacting other sectors—where countries are introducing country of origin labelling rules.

International Trade committee  Sometimes it's just the cost of accessing that market. The cost doesn't necessarily mean that the rules or requirements for entry are harder or better; it's just that if I have something I can sell for one dollar over here, and it costs me 10¢ to get into here, that's where I'm going to go, versus selling it for one dollar where it costs me 25¢ to get into.

International Trade committee  I have to add that some of the issues that we're dealing with are more domestic at times, whether it's labour shortages, supply chains, shipping issues or logistics to get from here to wherever we need to go. Once we get past that or choose to ignore it, in country, it does come down to some of the technical services.

International Trade committee  Good afternoon. I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to appear before the standing committee this afternoon to discuss how trade opportunities in the Indo-Pacific can benefit pork producers. My name is Gary Stordy. I'm the director of government and corporate affairs. I am pleased to speak on behalf of Canada's pork producers, who are responsible for generating 31,000 jobs on farms from coast to coast.