Enhancing Canada’s Beef Exports and Competitiveness in the Global Market
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/sppp.v17i1.78430Abstract
Alberta reports the highest revenues among all provinces in beef cattle ranching and farming,
but there is still considerable potential to maximize profits by expanding international trade.
In 2022, Canada exported 0.78 million head of cattle and 430,000 metric tonnes of beef, for a
total trade value of C$5.2 billion. That same year, Canada ranked eighth globally in the volume
of beef exports, sixth in the value of beef exports and fourth in the aggregate value of live cattle
and beef exports.
This study aims to provide a policy brief on Canada’s beef and cattle production and exports,
and international market access and conditions. Trade barriers are identified and evaluated, and
the implications of non-tariff measures (NTMs) are examined. These include, for example, the ban
imposed by the European Union and the United Kingdom on the importation of peroxyacetic acid
(PAA)-treated and hormone-treated beef, and the United States’ political/legislative attempts
to invoke the mandatory country-of-origin labelling (CoOL) standard for Canada’s beef exports.
This study also discusses the benefits and limitations of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) for
Canada’s beef exports, such as the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA); the Canada-EU
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA); and the Comprehensive and Progressive
Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The study concludes by exploring the
opportunities to increase Canada’s beef exports and competitiveness in international markets.
The analysis indicates that the Canadian cattle/beef sector would benefit from pursuing general
strategies to increase its competitiveness in foreign markets by promoting its beef, raising
production efficiency and reducing production costs, tackling labour shortages, alleviating
regulatory constraints and integrating novel technologies in beef production and processing.
The Canadian cattle/beef sector must increase its competitiveness in international markets and
diversify export destinations while maintaining access to the U.S. market. Canada is a major player
globally, but it needs to increase its competitiveness in, for example, China, Japan, South Korea,
Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Taiwan and the United Arab Emirates as these markets currently rely
heavily on beef imports from Australia, Brazil and the U.S., among other countries.
It would be critical to encompass strategies tailored to the market characteristics/conditions of
destination countries, raise the effectiveness of PTAs and stimulate bilateral business/marketing
networks. This study emphasizes the importance of sustaining market access to the U.S.,
enhancing market access to other foreign countries and pursuing pronounced diversification
strategies in beef exports to mitigate risks and uncertainties in international markets. It also
underlines the basic requirement of raising competitiveness vis-à-vis other beef-exporting
countries in various international markets. In this context, trade preferences may not necessarily
lead to significant increases in Canada’s beef exports to foreign markets when preferential access
is more pronounced for beef exported from other countries. Also, cost reductions should be
relatively significant to effectively compete with other beef-exporting countries and realize
increases in Canada’s beef exports to international markets.
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