Agriculture ministers for the Quebec and Ontario governments have agreed to adopt a “joint action plan” to improve integration and competitiveness in their agri-food sectors.
Quebec’s acting ag minister Robert Dutil and Ontario’s Carol Mitchell on Friday pledged to work toward “mutual recognition of standards involving bilateral trade, and to increased collaboration between Quebec and Ontario in areas of common interest,” such as research and innovation.
The plan also commits the two provinces to work with industry partners “to address common matters facing the chicken and hog sectors.”
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Mitchell and Dutil also agreed to work together in urging the federal government to review the federal “Product of Canada” guidelines and to consider “national compositional standards for yogurt.”
Both also pledged to continue to jointly support supply management in Canada and in international trade negotiations, they said in a joint release.
As part of the Quebec-Ontario Trade and Co-operation Agreement, signed by both provinces last September, the two ag ministers will meet annually to promote “stronger collaboration” in the agri-food sector.
A report back to review progress on the 2010 action plan is scheduled to take place in May 2011, the ag ministers said.
Bilateral trade in the ag and agri-food sectors between Quebec and Ontario is valued at about $9 billion annually.
Quebec and Ontario combined represent almost two-thirds of the Canadian food processing industry and over 65 per cent of the country’s supply-managed dairy, poultry and egg production.
