NAFTA partners sign agri-food agreement
A joint communique was signed by Ontario's Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Jeff Leal, host and lead of the provincial delegations for Canada; Director/Secretary of Agriculture of New Mexico, Jeff Witte, lead of the U.S. subnational delegation; and Secretary Hector Padilla Gutierrez, lead of the Mexican subnational delegation(s).
Held in Ontario for the first time this year, the Tri-National Agricultural Accord focused on building on 25 years of successful cooperation and partnership between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. The Accord continues to forge stronger connections that help advance food production and food processing in all three countries.
State and Provincial delegates from 6 Canadian provinces, 1 Mexican state and 23 U.S. states attended the 2016 Tri-National Agricultural Accord.
At the conclusion of the meeting, all three jurisdictions issued a joint communique demonstrating their commitment to collectively strengthen North American agri-food competitiveness and increase global agri-food exports.
The 26th Tri-National Agricultural Accord will be in Denver, Colorado from October 17-19, 2017.
The Tri-National Agricultural Accord brings together provincial, state and federal officials in agriculture from Canada, the United States and Mexico to address risks to growth of the agri-food sector.
The United States is Ontario’s number one trading partner, accounting for agri-food exports, worth $10.5 billion in 2015. Mexico is Ontario’s sixth-largest agri-food trading partner, with a total of $130 million in agri-food sales in 2015.