My Speeches

Agriculture Trade Mission to Asia

Posted on Nov 03, 2009

The Speaker: The hon. Member for Battle River-Wainwright,
followed by the hon. Member for Lethbridge-East.

Trade Mission to Asia

Mr. Griffiths: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For two years I had the
distinct pleasure of serving as parliamentary assistant to the minister
of agriculture. I was always very proud of the minister for his
resolute dedication to fiscal restraint. He seemed to manage every
taxpayers’ dollar as though it was an investment for his grandchildren.
I have a question for the minister. He announced last week
that he’s travelling to Asia for a trade mission. Given the economic
circumstances the province is enduring right now and the great need
for fiscal restraint, I’m wondering if he can explain why he now
needs a trade mission to Asia.

Mr. Groeneveld: Well, Mr. Speaker, the government of Alberta has
a plan for a strong economic recovery, but it’s important that we
continue to keep Albertans working by ensuring that our industries
are competitive and are attracting investments. Access to the Asian
market holds a tremendous potential for Alberta’s agriculture and
food industry and particularly for the beef industry. On a trip in
2007 I gained a better understanding of what these markets and their
consumers wanted for their livestock and for their meat products.
Since then the industry has been working to better meet these
demands, and I will be providing an update on our progress in
identifying more ways to supply these markets.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Mr. Griffiths: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The minister mentioned
how important these markets are, but right to the south of us we have
a market of 250 million people. I’m wondering why we want to
focus our attention on markets that are halfwayaround the world and
what sort of benefits they are supposed to provide.

Mr. Groeneveld: Well, Mr. Speaker, Asia is a growing market for
our export opportunities. People in Asia, as we all know, are now
eating more protein, and it’s a growing market for the types of
products produced here, like our famous Alberta beef. There are
also opportunities for industry to tailor products to suit the specific
consumer tastes in these regions. Alberta producers depend on
exporting, and we have the products here that consumers in Asia
want. They’re not only interested in our beef. They’re interested in
pork, canola, honey, and barley; you name it.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Mr. Griffiths: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This won’t be the first time
that the minister has travelled to Asia, and I know he believes we are
going to get some benefits. Are we building on benefits that came
from other trade missions that he went over to Asia for? Did we
accomplish some goals already that we’re going to build on?

Ms Blakeman: Nice question, but it’s still on the website.

Mr. Groeneveld: It’s a good question, whether it’s on the website
or not, Mr. Speaker. When I visited Asia in 2007, they told me that age verification and
traceability are the minimum requirements for market access. To
help meet these requirements, we created the Alberta livestock and
meat strategy and, indeed, the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency.
Market access is a top priority for ALMA. They are working with
Alberta industry, government, and key foreign members to advance
access for our Alberta products. As a matter of fact, one of our
board members joined federal Minister Ritz on a mission to Hong
Kong in January, where an agreement in principle for incremental
market access was secured. It was a direct result of our being there
the previous year.