Brexit win as furious Canadians claim new trade deal is ‘too positive’ for UK

The Canadian beef and meat industry has launched a new campaign to lobby Justin Trudeau to block Britain from joining the CPTPP trade deal, as they claim it’s too generous to the UK. The Canadian Cattle Association, Meat Council and National Cattle Feeders’ Association have launched a campaign called ‘Say No To a Bad Deal’, with the aim of pressuring the Canadian Government to reject Britain’s impending membership. The groups’ key gripe is that the land mark deal, negotiated by trade secretary Kemi Badenoch, gives British meat exporters too much of an advantage to sell their produce to Canada. The campaign says: ‘The proposed agreement will see the UK exporting over $50 million of their meat products into the Canadian market, while Canada will be unable to export any meat products into their market’. While the UK’s meat industry could boom from membership of the CPTPP, Canada’s meat processing safety is not of a high enough standard for Britain to allow imports. Britain’s CPTPP entry has angered the Canadian meat industry (Image: Mary Ng Twitter) The group also wants to make sure that other countries wanting to join the CPTPP aren’t allowed to ‘define their terms of entry’, like the UK did. CCA president Nathan Phinney said: “The CPTPP sets a high standard for progressive trade and the deal proposed with the U.K. would set a dangerous precedent for future countries looking to join’. Upon the UK signing up to the treaty, National Farmers Union president Minette Batters said: ‘I am pleased that our government continues to maintain its commitment to our food safety standards’. Kemi Badenoch formally signed Britain up to the treaty in July this year. Ms Badenoch was triumphant at signing the deal (Image: Kemi Badenoch) The CPTPP is a bloc of 11 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan. In total, the treaty countries have economies summing to over £12 trillion. Ms Badenoch championed the new treaty as the ‘clearest demonstration’ yet of post- Brexit freedoms, saying it places us at the ‘top table’ of the Indo-Pacific group. The deal will open major new markets for UK goods, including cars, textiles, whiskey, cheese, beef and lamb. It will also lower prices here in Britain for consumers, a vital lifeline given the cost of living crisis. Former PM and Trade Secretary Liz Truss told the Sunday Express the CPTPP deal is ‘one of the immediate benefits of Brexit ‘. Canadian agriculture spokesperson Samantha Seary said: ‘From day one, the Government of Canada said it would welcome new members as long as they can uphold the high standards of the CPTPP, and the U.K. has assured Canada and all members that they will fully comply with the sanitary and phytosanitary obligations of the CPTPP’.