The Council’s submission called for the "earliest possible completion, ratification and implementation" of the TPP. Failure to do so, according to the Council, would result in a devastating blow to the Canadian Meat Industry, which represents a significant segment of Canada’s economy and jobs.

The submission highlights the important part in which international trade represents for the Canadian livestock and meat sector. In 2016, $6.2 billion of meat products was exported to more than 100 countries around the globe. C$1.7 billion or 28 per cent was exported to TPP-11 members, particularly Japan.

According to the CMC, "Under TPP-11, Canadian meat exports to Japan are projected to increase by C$500 million." Without the speedy implementation of the TPP, Canada risks losing a critical competitive advantage to other large exporters such as the European Union.

The Canadian meat industry amid these current negotiations, is reminded of the costly decline it experienced as a result of stalled Canadian negotiations with South Korea.

The CMC notes that "not only did Canadian meat exports collapse by 56 per cent after competitors gained preferential access to the Korean market, the Canadian market access disadvantage will endure during the remaining years of the fifteen-year implementation period of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement."

The cost of Canada’s non-participation in the TPP could spell disaster for the meat industry, particularly in the meat packing and processing sector which is typically a major or primary employer in towns and cities across Canada.

The CMC affirms that abstention or indecision by Canada should not be accepted as a viable option. The Council also notes that should the ratification or implementation of the TPP by other countries be delayed, Canada should immediately re-invigorate negotiations of the Canada-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement to counter the increasing loss of Canadian competitiveness to other countries.