Ottawa has promised to protect supply management in future trade deals, citing a deal reached November 21 to ensure continuity in trading arrangements with the UK when it leaves the EU at the end of December. “Our government will not provide market access to our supply managed sectors in any future trade agreements,” federal agriculture …
Marie-Claude Bibeau
China ups ante for exporters
A year after the first case of COVID-19 emerged in China, the country’s customs officials announced tough new inspection rules designed to prevent the virus from returning via food shipments. On November 18, 2020, the General Administration of Customs China (GACC) requested that Canada and other trading partners revise export certificates for frozen and chilled …
Election delays funding
The provincial election means BC farmers will have to wait for their share of $35 million in emergency funding the federal government announced at the end of July. “During the interregnum, it would not be prudent for the Ministry of Agriculture to take on administration commitments that would bind an incoming administration,” a statement from …
Women farmers receive double
Farm Credit Canada’s Women Entrepreneur Program has delivered nearly twice as much support to female agri-food entrepreneurs than expected. During a virtual roundtable to address the challenges women agri-food entrepreneurs face, Marie-Claude Bibeau, in her capacity as the first-ever female minister of agriculture and agri-food, announced that 1,391 women across the country had received more …