Agriculture products from Canada -- including wheat, barley and canola -- will be among duty free items in the Trans-Pacific Partnership participating counties, upon agreement, a Canadian agricultural association said late Monday.
In a press statement, Levi Wood, president of the Wheat Growers Association described the TPP as "terrific news" for Western Canadian agriculture, as it would ensure "equal market access" for Canadian wheat, canola, barley and other crops compared with main competitors US and Australia.
Canada exported 17.7 million mt of wheat in 2014/2015 crop year, which spans from August 2014 to July 2015 according to data from Canadian Grain Commission.
The major Canadian wheat destinations in 2014-2015 crop year include several countries from the Asia-Pacific region.
Indonesia was the country's largest export destination, amounting to 1.5 million mt, followed by Japan at 1.34 million mt, Mexico at 1.08 million mt, the US at 1.01 million mt, Bangladesh at 1.03 million mt, and Peru at 976,000 mt.
All of these countries were signatories of TPP, except for Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Canadian wheat flows to Japan had been affected by intense competition from Australia in recent years, likely due to preferential trade with Australia under the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement, or JAEPA.
Canadian wheat exports to Japan fell by 15.7% in 2014/2015 crop year as compared with 1.59 million mt a year ago.
