A consultant on trade opportunities and barriers told producers at the London Swine Conference that Canada’s pork industry is well positioned to compete in a global market.

Kathleeen Sullivan says while Canada is still the biggest market for Canadian producers, that consumption has levelled off, as it has in most developed countries.

The good news is that Canada either has – or is in the process of – finalizing trade agreements with strong pork markets like South Korea, the European Union, as well as Japan and Vietnam.

The challenge is that the U.S. and the E-U are going after the same markets as Canada.

Sullivan says right now the U-S and E-U each export about thirty per cent of the world’s pork.

Canada is not far behind at twenty to twenty-five per cent.

Sullivan adds both the U.S. and the E-U have larger economies, so Canada has to work a little harder to compete.

Kathleen Sullivan says Canada is close to the U-S and European Union exports at twenty to twenty-five per cent of the global market, and that gap is closing…

Sullivan points out Canada is in the process of finalizing trade agreements with lucrative markets like the European Union and South Korea, but she adds there is competition for those markets….