Trans-Pacific Partnership talks continue this week in Atlanta, with the possibility of negotiations wrapping up — meaning there could be big news for agriculture.

According to the Canada Agri-Food Trade Alliance (CAFTA), Canada exports over half of the agri-foods it produces — 65 per cent of which goes to TPP markets. CAFTA president Brian Innes says the TPP is critical for Canada because it will open up more export markets for our products.

"It means better access to Japan by getting rid of tarrifs," he says, "and it means preserving our existing markets throughout the Asian-Pacific region, whether that's Japan or Malaysia or Vietnam."

While groups like the Green Party of Canada have called TPP a sham, and there has been some public concern about the secrecy of the deal, Innes says the TPP is very important to Canada because it could increase millions of dollars in Canadian exports in several agricultural sectors.

"In the TPP, we've got a key market for many grains and oilseeds in Japan, so more than $2.3 billion dollars in exports go to Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam in any given year," he says. "With the TPP in Japan, we could see greatly improved access for things like canola oil, so this would enable us to increase exports by $780 million per year, and significant increases as well for other markets for all of the cereals."

He said this could also open more exports for beef and pork.

But with the TPP meetings resuming, talk also continues to buzz about supply management, as it has for the past few months. A report from last week suggested that Canada may be prepared to open its domestic dairy market to foreign suppliers. The Canadian government has neither confirmed nor denied this, and has said in the past, it will not negotiate through the media.

However if Canada were to open its dairy market, the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba chair, David Wiens, says it could have a devestating effect on Canadian dairy producers because the World Trade Organization has restrictions on Canadian dairy exports.

"I mean really the U.S. is looking for a market in which to dump dairy product," Wiens says. "They'll have to give up a certain amount to New Zealand, and in turn, they want to be able to pass that volume on and dump it into our market. We can't go anywhere with our dairy products, we have to stay domestic, so that would immediately cut back our overall industry."

Wiens says foreign dairy wouldn't make the market more competitive, but would rather allow Canadian dairy to be displaced by imports with little change in retail prices. He also says the quality and sustainability of Canadian milk is different than that of other countries.

"The way in which [Canadian farmers] produce milk reflects the value of Canadians, and that includes things like milk quality, food safety, animal care, environment, biosecurity, traceability -- all these things that we know matter to Canadians. That would be undermined because [foreign] products would come across the border and they do not live under the same standards or the kind of regulations we have here."

While the future of Canadian agriculture and the TPP — whether it be for dairy, pork, canola, or cereals — remains a little unclear at the moment, perhaps more clarity will come at the end of the week.

"We've made our needs very clear to the government of Canada," says Innes. "We're certainly trusting our government negotiators will get the deal that's in the best interest of Canada, and get the best deal possible for agricultural producers because we really see there's a significant opportunity there for the grains and oilseeds sector, for beef and pork and sugar and for the export-oriented sectors."