Trade Deal with Europe Good News for Canada's Barley Industry

OTTAWA, Oct. 22, 2013 /CNW/ - The Malting Industry Association of Canada (MIAC) supports the agreement in principle of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) which was announced Friday by Prime Minister Harper in Brussels.

The CETA eliminates tariffs on malt immediately and the phased elimination of tariffs for barley. It will provide the ability to consider potential niche geographic market opportunities in an open and transparent market environment.

"Eliminating tariffs and liberalizing trade globally for malt is critically important for our industry, so any agreement that continues to move forward the Government of Canada's trade negotiation agenda globally is good news," says MIAC president Phil de Kemp.

This agreement once ratified has the potential to increase domestic barley grain usage due to the expected market opportunities for both beef and pork into the E.U. "The potential for increased domestic barley consumption is strongly supported by our malt industry members" says de Kemp. "It will provide the ability for us to continue to work closely with our barley producers to maximize their market sales of malting barley for malt production while at the same time providing additional growth opportunities for barley sales to the animal sector".

The CETA is a tremendous accomplishment for the Government of Canada and the exemplary work of our negotiators is greatly appreciated. We look forward to their continued support in securing future trade deals with Japan, Korea, the Trans Pacific Partnership countries and potentially Thailand, all of which will provide significant economic benefits to all our partners in the barley industry.

Canada is the second largest exporter of malt in the world. MIAC's four members purchase approximately one million tonnes of malting barley annually. Malt exports account for over 65% of our production and is shipped to our brewing customers in over 20 countries around the globe.

SOURCE: Malting Industry Association of Canada

Media may contact:

Phil de Kemp, President
Malting Industry Association of Canada
613-271-9774
[email protected]