While farmers have congratulated the Government of Canada for the reduction of tariffs through the continued development of international trade agreements, novel barriers have begun to emerge. These include country of origin labelling in Italy, and commercially unrealistic phytosanitary requirements from Vietnam, Peru, Indonesia, and Turkey.

Alberta’s wheat and barley farmers would like to see the Government of Canada prioritize the growing amount of non-tariff trade barriers targeting agricultural commodities that are limiting middle-class farmers from realizing the full benefits of Canada’s international trade agreements.

As farmers invest in research to increase crop yields and more sustainable farming practices, the success of middle-class Canadian farms will depend on increasing reliable access to international export markets. We are pleased to see that Canada is chairing the World Trade Organization’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary committee, and look forward to learning what additional resources will be directed to these trade issues.