Red Deer Chamber, Alberta Small Brewers Association react to new interprovincial free trade agreement

“This agreement speaks to stability and sustainability. There’s been a lot of turmoil, especially for our business community, and that goes east to west within Canada. People appreciate supporting their neighbours,” believes Frank Creasey, Chamber CEO.

“With trade negotiations, there’s always going to be a give and take, but removing barriers, and in relation to red tape, this is a positive.”

But as mentioned, food and beverage, among others, are left in the lurch.

Creasey says both are intrinsically connected to the agriculture sector, which is an integral part of the Red Deer area’s economy.

He agrees it would be good to see them eventually included.

“Both items are of key significance,” he says. “But there are a lot of regulatory hurdles on both topics.”

Microbreweries across Canada, including the 140 in Alberta, stand to benefit if there was such a way to include them in a future edition of this trade agreement.

But it’ll be difficult, acknowledges Blair Berdusco, executive director with the Alberta Small Brewers Association (ASBA), of which about 70 per cent of the province’s breweries are members.

Berdusco explains that each province can regulate the alcoholic beverage sector how they choose; there are no federal guidelines, she says, other than the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Every province has its own taxation, its own distribution channels, warehousing, and it differs greatly in each province and territory, she says.

“Alberta has the most open market in that all of our retail locations are privately owned. There are no government liquor stores, which is very different from everywhere else. Then the government here contracts with one warehousing and distribution partner, which is Connect Logistics in St. Albert,” she says.

“If you go across the border to B.C., their barriers to entry from outside of the province start almost immediately. It’s very challenging to get into other provinces because of things like needing to have an agent represent you who resides in that province.”

Connect Logistics operates the popular LiquorConnect directory.

Berdusco adds that an Alberta brewery can’t have one of their salespeople also be their agent in B.C., despite the fact they could easily drive across the border and provide the same level of care around the product that someone in B.C. would.

“From there, out-of-province manufacturers are required to use a different warehouse from the B.C.-based manufacturers, which comes at a higher cost,” she says.

What she’d recommend starting with is developing a board-to-board system between provinces and territories, like the one Alberta already has with Saskatchewan.

“This allows products to be moved between us fairly easily, and if we open that kind of a system up from province-to-province, you would allow access for more breweries. For example, if B.C. or Ontario were to open that up, an Ontario brewery that has a request from a restaurant in Coquitlam, B.C. could easily utilize a board-to-board transfer and send out a keg or two of their product for sale in that restaurant,” she says.

“It would give a good opportunity for that restaurant to be able to have a new product on tap, but also test out amongst their consumer base if it’s something popular. Then it gives the manufacturer an opportunity to open up their sales channels and test their product in new markets. So there are systems which do exist that we could look at expanding.”

Figuring out a way to accomplish this would also increase fairness for microbreweries in a world where big name breweries have a competitive advantage as far as shipping product across any type of boundary.

Berdusco estimates the cost for a small brewer to come up with a can of beer is three times what it costs a macrobrewer.

First reacting to the agreement as a whole, Alberta’s Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration believes Alberta is a leader on interprovincial trade, and expressed support this year for reducing barriers to labour mobility, easing of barriers on alcohol sales, and increasing regulation alignment in trucking.

“Alberta took initiative on several of these before national efforts began, including measures to improve labour mobility and the establishment of the most fair, open and competitive liquor system in Canada,” says Hunter Baril, the ministry’s press secretary.

“The recently signed mutual recognition agreement on the sale of goods is a significant step forward, allowing companies nationwide to sell goods in other provinces without unnecessary red tape. This means a stronger economy, more business growth, and more jobs.”

Baril says as it relates to food and beverage, Canada is known worldwide for its high standards in agri-food products.

“These exports are a significant part of Alberta’s economy,” he says.

“We would need to take great care in expanding the mutual recognition agreement to food to ensure that we do not risk losing access to international markets.”

Ravi Kahlon, B.C.’s minister of jobs and economic growth, says that province is advocating for an expansion under the agreement to include food and services.

The agreement takes effect in December, and will include products like clothing, industrial products, health tech, toys and vehicles.

(with files from The Canadian Press)

by Josh Hall | @Vancan19

Red Deer Chamber, Alberta Small Brewers Association react to new interprovincial free trade agreement

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