Qatar has opened its markets to imports of sheep and goats from Canada, ministers announced yesterday (2 October).
The deal will give Canadian producers further access to Qatar’s lucrative high-quality breeding stock market, which opened to Canadian cattle earlier this year.
A member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman, Qatar is one of the wealthiest countries in the world and Canadian food exports to the country were worth more than $4.5m in 2011.
Canada’s International Trade Minister Ed Fast said: “Today’s announcement is important for our trading relationship with Qatar and advances our efforts to deepen our economic and trade ties with the Gulf Cooperation Council region as a whole.”
