Following a nation-wide competition FARE has been chosen by Agriculture and AgriFood Canada (AAFC) as the hub for its national research network focused on Agricultural Trade Policy and Competitiveness (CATPRN).
The CATPRN has the goal of improving the economic performance of the agrifood sector through research designed to enhance and better understand Canada's trade performance, competitiveness and policy options.
In meeting this goal the Network will:
- bring together a critical mass of researchers from academia and other organizations;
- contribute to an informed debate on policy issues; and
- increase the capacity to deliver agricultural policy research through research projects involving graduate students.
The CATPRN will administer more than a million dollars in research funding over four years divided among eight high priority topics:
- Trade Negotiations
- Market Opportunities
- Competitiveness and the Structure of Production, Marketing and Trade
- Domestic Policy
- Consumer Safety and Quality
- Plant and Animal Health
- Environment and Trade
- Developing Country Issues
The CATPRN is one of five national research networks funded under AAFCs Enabling Research for Competitive Agriculture Initiative. Professor Karl Meilke has been selected as the Director of the Network and the CATPRN website can be found at www.catrade.org.
