Agriculture and Forestry Minister Eric Hammill said today there are major new opportunities to increase trade in Mexico, Brazil and Chile. He recently returned from a Team Canada trade mission to those countries led by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Minister Lyle Vanclief.
"With growing populations and standards of living, there is increasing demand for a wide range of food and agricultural products," said Mr. Hammill. "The trade mission gave us a great opportunity to learn more about their needs and to establish those long-term relationships which can lead to increased exports."
The new agreement on re-opening the Mexican market to Canadian seed potatoes was one of the highlights of the two-week mission. Mr. Hammill said he was hopeful that a permanent and lasting agreement can be finalized in the near future, and that there are opportunities to share potato-related technologies. He said he also discussed with industry and government representatives in all three countries their requirements for high quality genetic breeding stock to improve their livestock industries.
"The export of our dairy, beef and swine genetics represents a major opportunity for the industry in this province and throughout the region," said Mr. Hammill. "I will be discussing various marketing initiatives with my regional colleagues and industry representatives over the coming weeks."
Ann Little, General Manager of the Prince Edward Island Food and Beverage Processors Association, also participated in the trade mission. She said it provided an invaluable opportunity to gain more information about these markets on behalf of the Association members and to make contacts with importers in each of those countries.
"Certainly there is a growing interest on behalf of Island food and beverage processors to increase exports of our value-added products," she said. "Many Canadian and U.S. products are already well-accepted in these markets, and demand is increasing for the kind of quality products we produce in Prince Edward Island."
Little said there is interest in these markets for a wide range of agriculture and fisheries processed products, including pizza, specialty seafood, potato chips, beverages and frozen food products.
Prince Edward Island was also represented on the mission by Shelley Boutilier of Agra West Foods in Souris and by Joe McGuire, Parliamentary Assistant to Mr. Vanclief and Member of Parliament for Egmont.
"Trade missions such as this underline the importance of Prince Edward Island, as an exporting province, to capitalize on ever-expanding opportunities throughout the world," said Mr. Hammill.