Minister Ritz and Indonesian Agriculture Minister Suswono (photo courtesy AAFC)

 

 

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz led a trade mission to southeast Asia last week. Stops included Indonesia, Hong Kong and Japan, where the minister participated in the first-ever APEC agriculture meeting.

While in Indonesia, Ritz received assurance from the Indonesia agriculture minister that Canadian wheat will be exempt from new phytosanitary testing implemented by the country last year. "The Indonesian government was doing a complete new battery of tests, which of course held product either on ship or in storage before it can move in. Then of course some of our guys weren't getting paid. What they've done now is recognize the top-shelf work we do on food safety, traceability and so on in our plant health sector. They're saying they no longer feel they need to do that. They'll recognize the sound science Canada has in place."

The achievement means costly testing at Indonesia ports will no longer be needed. The Canadian Wheat Board expects Canadian wheat exports to Indonesia will be valued at over 300 million dollars this year.

While in Hong Kong, Ritz followed up on the recovery of full market access for Canadian beef. Ritz then met with his Japanese counterpart to discuss Canada's long-standing request for increased market access for Canadian beef.

The first Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC agriculture meeting was held on Saturday and Sunday in Niigata, Japan. Ritz, along with representatives from 20 other "Pacific Rim" countries, worked on a plan aimed at improving reliable access to food throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

~ Monday, October 18, 2010 ~