b'CSTA / SEEDINNOVATION.CA / STAY TUNED FOR OUR NEW MARKET REPORTCANADAS SEED TRADE HAS ROOM TO GROWAS IVE NOTED in this space before, myshare. Canada imports almost $6 million in seeds for formal training is in plant cell biol- sowing from ASEAN markets and exports $4.5 million. ogy. I got into the trade sphere byIn the period between 2012/2013 and 2016/2017, trade looking at phytosanitary and techni- with ASEAN has more than doubled in both imports and cal regulations. That naturally led meexports.to becoming fascinated by trade andCanadas biggest exports by crop type to Vietnam are how it impacts our industryandcanola, soy and flax.its a big reason Im excited about a new project CSTA is undertaking.In a couple of months, we hope to unveil our first-ever market devel-Claudio Feulner,opment report. It will look at trade CSTA Regulatoryopportunities abroad, specifically in Affairs and TradeJapan and Eastern Europe. These areSEED GENERALLY TRADES WITH NO OR VERY LOW Manager possible markets for export growth in Canadian seed. The fact we haveTARIFFS, AND MANY COUNTRIES DO NOT BIND OR a free trade agreement with JapanAPPLY ANY TARIFFS ON SEED FOR SOWING.(the CPTPP) leaves the door open for Canadian seed producers to reap the benefits of this. Other opportunities exist as well.CSTA recently responded to the Government of Canadas invita-tion to provide comments regard- CSTAs mission statement is to foster seed industry ing a potential free trade agreementinnovation and trade and as such we encourage the with the Association of South EastGovernment of Canada to continuously seek new trade Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN is adeals. CSTA members export over cover 50 different crop regional bloc comprised of Bruneikinds to more than 80 different countries annually. Trade Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia,deals help alleviate tariffs but, more importantly in the Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar,seed industry, they help to alleviate non-tariff trade bar-Philippines, Singapore, Thailand andriers. In 2017/18 Canada exported $646 million worth of Vietnam. It represents a significantseed for sowing.economic presence in SoutheastSeed generally trades with no or very low tariffs, and Asia and a considerable market formany countries do not bind or apply any tariffs on seed Canadians. Canada exports almost $6for sowing. While this is an advantage for our commodity million in seeds for sowing to ASEANtype, the seed industry experiences issues with non-tariff markets and imports $5.5 million.trade barriers such as phytosanitary measures and low-The overall commercial worldlevel presence policies. Recently, the International Plant seed market is assessed to be approx- Protection Convention adopted a standard for the interna-imately CDN$64 billion a year as oftional movement of seed (ISPM 38) to tackle these issues 2016, according to the Internationalglobally.Seed Federation. This is a globalWe hope to unveil our market development report at our market where Canada has a lot ofsemi-annual meeting in December and continue to support room to grow and expand our marketCanadas trade diversification strategy. Stay tuned! 54GERMINATION.CA NOVEMBER 2019'