In 2012, Canada and Japan launched negotiations towards an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The Canadian Agri-food Trade Alliance (CAFTA) supports the Canadian government’s efforts to expand trade and economic ties with Japan. However, to be successful, the Canada-Japan EPA must include a solid agriculture package.
Japan is an important and stable customer for Canada’s agriculture and food products.
Japan is Canada’s third-largest export market after the United States and China — representing $3.8 billion in agri-food shipments in 2014.
Japan is the largest predictable market for Canadian canola seed; the second-largest market for Canadian malt, Canadian pork and Canadian wheat; the fourth-largest for Canadian beef; and an important high-value market for Canadian pulses. In turn, Canada is Japan’s largest supplier of malt, seeds (canola, canary, mustard, flax), oils (canola, flax), peas, kidney beans, and durum wheat; its second-largest supplier of frozen and preserved potatoes; and Japan’s third-largest supplier of pork.
A substantive free trade deal with Japan could help expand trade and improve export opportunities for Canadian farmers and food manufacturers.
Japan is heavily dependent on food imports, has the lowest rate of food self-sufficiency among G8 countries, and possesses a large agri-food trade deficit. Quite simply, Japan must import to maintain adequate food supplies. This presents tremendous opportunities for Canadian agri-food producers — provided Canada can negotiate better access for our food products.
As with any trade initiative, negotiations with Japan will not be without challenges
Significant questions remain about Japan’s readiness to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal that includes agriculture.
While Japan relies heavily on food imports, it also protects its own farmers and food processors through tariffs and non-tariff measures that add substantial costs to trade.
In its 2010 Basic Policy on Comprehensive Economic Partnerships, Japan suggested it would introduce domestic reforms to its primary sectors — as part of a strategy to aggressively pursue bilateral trade. This approach, however, has proven controversial among Japan’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors.
How Japan manages its agriculture sensitivities is a matter of domestic policy but the Canada-Japan EPA must address primary-sector reforms. Given the importance of agri-food trade to Canada, any trade deal with Japan must include a solid agriculture and food component.
While pressing for an ambitious deal, Canada must also move quickly.
In vying for Japan’s attention, Canada has some tough competition. Japan has already started negotiating trade agreements with some of our key competitors, including Australia and the European Union. A multilateral trade negotiation is the best means of achieving a level playing field for agriculture and food exports around the world. However, with little progress at the World Trade Organization (WTO), exporting countries like Canada must prove their mettle in the bilateral trade arena — aggressively staking their claim to key markets ahead of their competition. Canada learned a tough lesson in the case of South Korea, when it lost half of Canadian agri-food exports in the wake of the U.S.- Korea Free Trade Agreement of 2012. Canada cannot afford a similar outcome with Japan.
Japan’s membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is an interesting twist.
It is unclear how Japan’s membership in the TPP will affect its bilateral negotiations with Canada. However, the TPP’s ambitious mandate will place even more pressure on Japan to address domestic sensitivities. Leaders in the TPP are advocating for a comprehensive and ambitious, next-generation, regional trade agreement — one that liberalizes trade in goods, services and investment, and that addresses existing and emerging trade issues in a way that meets 21st century objectives. If Japan can subscribe to these goals, its membership in the TPP would be a welcome development for agri-food exporters in Canada. However, there is also a risk that Japan may lead all TPP countries to pursue less ambitious trade objectives.
Japan is a critical market for Canada and many other countries. Canada must ensure that Japan continues to be held to a high standard in any trade deal — whether a bilateral agreement with Canada or a regional deal such as the TPP. To do otherwise would sell Canadian interests short.
CAFTA is a coalition of national and regional organizations that support an open and transparent international trading environment for our agri-food sectors. Our members include Canada’s major agrifood exporters including the beef, pork, grain, oilseed, sugar, and malt sectors, where we represent producers, processors and exporters. Together, these sectors produce almost 80 per cent of Canada’s agriculture and agri-food exports, conduct about $50 billion in business annually and directly employ close to 500,000 Canadians.
En 2012, le Canada et le Japon ont annoncé l’ouverture de négociations visant à conclure un accord de partenariat économique exhaustif et de haut niveau (APE). L’accord, connu sous le nom de Partenariat économique Canada-Japon vise à réduire, et parfois même à éliminer, les obstacles tarifaires et non tarifaires qui entravent le commerce entre les deux nations.
Le Japon est un important marché pour les secteurs des produits agricoles et agroalimentaires canadiens. C’est même le marché no 1 pour les semences de canola canadien, le second marché pour le malt et le porc canadiens, le quatrième marché pour le bœuf, et un marché de haute valeur pour le blé et les légumineuses à grains du Canada.
Le Japon dépend énormément de ses importations d’aliments. Il a le taux le plus faible d’autosuffisance pour la nourriture parmi les pays du G8, et il affiche le plus large déficit de produits agroalimentaires. Ce pays a un marché de 127,5 millions de personnes et un PIB de 4,7 billions de dollars. Les activités agricoles du Japon sont limitées, car il y a peu de terres arables (selon les estimations, on y trouve 0,03 hectare par habitant) et une pénurie de main-d’œuvre dans ce secteur. Sa population décroît et sa main-d’œuvre vieillissante exerce des pressions sur les ressources du pays, ce qui suscite de l’inquiétude malgré l’autosuffisance à la baisse qu’on y a enregistré depuis les années 1970.
Ce pays a une économie qui arrive au troisième rang dans le monde et en 2014, il était le 3e plus grand marché d’exportation du Canada. En 2014, le Japon a importé des produits agroalimentaires d’une valeur de 3,8 milliards de dollars venant du Canada.
Les relations commerciales entre le Canada et le Japon sont complexes et très positives dans la plupart des cas. À l’heure actuelle, le Japon a adopté un certain nombre de politiques qui limitent la concurrence des entreprises canadiennes de l’industrie de l’agriculture et des produits agroalimentaires. Les producteurs du Japon, en particulier ceux qui produisent de la viande, du riz et du blé, bénéficient de mesures protectionnistes que constituent les obstacles tarifaires et non tarifaires.
L’ACCAA cherche à élargir son accès au marché du Japon en faisant éliminer ces barrières tarifaires et non tarifaires.
L’ACCAA encourage le Canada à participer aux négociations relatives à l’APE et il croit qu’un tel accord contribuera de façon substantielle à la croissance et à la compétitivité du secteur de l’agriculture.
L’ACCAA a encouragé les exportateurs canadiens à resserrer leurs liens avec le Japon et il croit qu’il y reste encore des débouchés commerciaux à exploiter. Aujourd’hui, le Japon impose des tarifs très élevés sur un bon nombre de produits alimentaires et agricoles et a mis en place des obstacles non tarifaires dans plusieurs créneaux de marché. Ces barrières non tarifaires peuvent entraver la libre circulation des biens et faire grimper le coût des produits importés.