Kyle Larkin

Science-based food regulations: Working with the Government of Canada on a variety of regulations to promote safety, efficiency, and competitiveness. Trade diversification: Working with the government to seek out and sign new free trade agreements with markets that have a potential for increased Canadian meat exports. Canada-U.S. relations: Ensuring that the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) continues in its entirety. Labour: Advocating for a permanent food processing immigration stream, stemming from the success of the Agri-Food Pilot. International Barriers to Trade: Seeking to eliminate or prevent out-dated, overly burdensome, discriminatory or otherwise inappropriate technical requirements in other countries that can create unnecessary obstacles to trade, reduce competition and prevent Canadian exporters from participating in global supply under the WTO SPS and TBT Agreements. The Canadian Meat Council is advocating for strengthened regulatory cooperation initiatives in regional, plurilateral and multilateral trade agreements to further facilitate trade. Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance: Encouraging the adoption of an increased and permanent accelerated capital cost allowance to match the tax benefits available to the American meat processing sector. Canadian Food Inspection Agency and User Fee Act: Advocating for a review of the CFIA fee structure and establishment of service standards as required by the User Fee Act. Interprovincial trade of meat: Advocating for all meat that is processed in Canada and that crosses provincial borders to be inspected by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and Regulations. Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation: Seeking greater regulatory alignment between American and Canadian food inspection systems to ensure that Canada remains regulatory competitive. Canada-EU: Promoting commercially viable access to Europe for Canadian beef and pork under the provisions of the Canada Europe Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Canada-China: Advocating for tariff-free access to the Chinese market for Canadian beef and pork exports. Domestic processing: Advocating for a targeted federal support program to assist small and medium-sized beef processors who are experiencing severe financial stress due to limited cattle supply and rising input costs. The program would aim to stabilize operations, preserve regional processing capacity, and sustain employment through short-term financial relief and resilience measures developed in collaboration with the Government of Canada Terrestrial animal diseases: Ensuring the Government of Canada is adequately prepared to respond to foreign animal diseases, including funding support for processors and zoning agreements with key trading partners.