Canadian meat industry urges MPs to reject U.K. membership in trade deal

Canadian beef and pork farmers are calling on members of Parliament to vote against the U.K.'s membership in a major Asia-Pacific trade group.

The farmers, as well as Canadian meat processors, are angry about Saturday's (July 15) announcement that the U.K. has been granted accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The CPTPP is a trading bloc that includes Canada and ten other nations, encompassing 500 million people and 15 per cent of the world's economy.

But Canada's meat industry says the U.K. should not be able to join, since Canadian beef and pork producers don't have fair access to the U.K. market.

One sticking point is that the U.K. refuses to accept beef treated with growth hormones, a common practice in Canada.

The meat industry says the federal government must reject the U.K.'s membership in the trading bloc through a vote in Parliament, or compensate farmers and processors for the financial losses that will result.