CPMA praises NAFTA renegotiation progress on phytosanitary, biotech issues - FreshFruitPortal.com

CPMA praises NAFTA renegotiation progress on phytosanitary, biotech issues

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CPMA praises NAFTA renegotiation progress on phytosanitary, biotech issues

The Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA) has praised the development of talks related to phytosanitary and biotechnology issues during the latest North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) discussions. 

The third round of the renegotiation talks took place in Ottawa, Ontario, from Sept. 23-27.

In a statement, the organization said it had been "highly engaged" in the conversations, which followed on from meetings held in the U.S. and Mexico.

"Overall, CPMA is pleased to see progress being made on the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Chapter as well as the Biotechnology Chapter," it said.

"As part of its NAFTA submission to the Government of Canada, CPMA provided recommendations on both of those topics in order to modernize and improve the current NAFTA.

"Moving forward, CPMA will be closely monitoring trade remedy and other areas of potential impact to industry during discussions and working with the Government as necessary to ensure that the voice of the fresh produce is heard on any proposals that could affect the industry."

The next round of negotiations will take place in Washington, DC from Oct. 11-15.

News agency Reuters on Wednesday reported Mexico had opened the possibility that the renegotiation was so complex that talks could run into 2018.

This would be beyond an end-December deadline designed to avoid Mexicoā€™s presidential election campaign which kicks off in March.

The three countries said at the end of the most recent five-day session there had been progress made in the talks, but acknowledged much work remained to conclude the negotiations by the end of the year.

Mexicoā€™s Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo was quoted as saying there would be ā€œsubstantial challengesā€ in the next round.

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