The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) is a coalition of national organizations advocating for a freer and fairer international trade environment for the agriculture and agri-food sector.

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CAFTA's members include farmers, ranchers, processors, producers, and exporters from major trade sectors such as beef, pork, grains, oilseeds, sugar, pulses, life sciences and soy.

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A fair and open international trade environment for agri-food is in Canada’s economic interest. Agri-food is responsible for 1 in 9 jobs in Canada, and the majority are in export-based agri-food. Canada exports some $100 billion in agriculture and food products per year. More than half of our agricultural production is exported or processed to be exported.

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The UAE

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The UAE has not traditionally been a major market for Canadian agri-food. Overall, Canada’s agri-food exports to the UAE represent less than 1% of Canada’s agri-food exports to all countries. Exports are essentially limited to a few categories – vegetables, cereals, oilseeds. There are extremely limited exports of processed food products.

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However, CAFTA members see areas of opportunity. The UAE enjoys excellent infrastructure that eases the smooth import, export, and transit of goods within the region and beyond. The UAE's food processing sector is thriving, driven by robust economic growth and domestic consumption. This sector relies on imported commodities and ingredients. The market is highly competitive but potential for Canadian export growth exists, The UAE is a top 5 market for pulses (#3 for lentils). They are also a transhipment point for other Middle East countries and home to some of the larger regional consumer brands. Pulses are an essential element of the national diet.

Not being producers themselves, the UAE has little reason to place tariffs on foreign agri-food. We would note that our Australian have completed trade negotiations with the UAE and tariffs will be removed on 99% of Australian exports by value including chickpeas and lentils.

CAFTA sees potential trade facilitation gains. AAFC’s Market Access Secretariat has communicated on UAE front of the package labelling, halal certification, and food establishment registration. However, we are not aware of specific market access problems.

Broader Considerations

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Canada’s agri-food exporters are unfortunately faced with a very uncertain international environment in which some of the world’s most important countries are undermining the global trading system, and the rules-based order on which the system rests.

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CAFTA strongly believes that Canada must continue to work to strengthen and protect this system, upon which so much of our economic security rests. Continuing to negotiate trade agreements with potential partners such as the UAE sends an important message of our commitment to freer trade.

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CAFTA therefore supports the opening of these discussions and looks forward to continued consultation as they advance. It is CAFTA’s opinion that Canada should prioritize tariff elimination, comprehensive guidelines on sanitary and phytosanitary regulations that promise predictability and efficiency for farmers and exporters and including agricultural biotechnology along the lines of the recently signed CEPA with Indonesia.

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Given the largely hortatory nature of text concerning sustainable trade in agriculture in the recent cases of the Indonesia CEPA and the Ecuador FTA, we do not see the need for such language in this and future agreements.

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We would note that the UAE is home to Al Khaleej Sugar, the world’s largest standalone port-based refinery. There is regional overcapacity in supplying domestic food manufacturing, so there are substantive exports. We would be sensitive in an FTA negotiation given the very unlikely prospect of significant exports and the potential for increased imports from a large surplus refined sugar producer.

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​Michael Harvey, 

Executive Director