Canada is among the 12 nations currently involved in negotiations aimed at securing a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement.

Ron Davidson, the director of international trade, government and media relations with the Canadian Meat Council, says the TPP is clearly the most promising and most active trade negotiation underway covering both sides of the pacific ocean, and among the 12 nations, accounting for 40 per cent of the world's gross domestic product, so the implications of not being part of it would be grave.

Ron Davidson-Canadian Meat Council:

Particularly let me use the meat sector as one example.

Just one country of the 12, Japan, took over $1,000,000,000 of Canadian meat exports in 2014.

We know already from the example of South Korea what happens when we lose competitive advantage, when we no longer are competitive in market access conditions to a foreign market.

The Japanese market is far larger for our meat industry than South Korea was so we would be multiplying our South Korea experience by many times by not being in the TPP and maintaining competitive access to Japan.

The meat industry is only one example.

The whole agri-food sector, all the export oriented portions of the agri-food sector are affected the same way and other sectors of the Canadian economy so, from our perspective, for the future of Canada, Canada as a trading nation, this country must be there.

It must be fully at the table and be fully competitive with our partners when this deal is completed.

Mr Davidson said that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is the agreement that will be setting the rules for trade for at least the next decade and probably longer in the global forum and not being part of it is not an option.