Cavendish Farms seeks removal of European Tariffs on French fries

Cavendish Farms has requested federal government help to seek the elimination of a European trade tariff that could open up a huge marketplace for French fries and help increase potato production on P.E.I.

Ron Clow, general manager of Cavendish Farms, told a House of Commons standing committee on International Trade the immediate elimination of the stiff tariff on French fries could benefit the Maritime economy and currently cuts the company out of a marketplace of 400 million consumers.

“At the moment, we face a stiff 14.4 per cent tariff, which effectively bars us from competing with Belgian and Dutch exporters in a market of 400 million people,’’ Clow told the standing committee this week. “It’s very important for the Maritime economy if we could see the elimination of this tariff which is part of the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement.”

Clow said Prince Edward Island has the potential to produce a much greater volume of potatoes and expansion into Europe could bring significant benefits to the local economy and Cavendish Farms production levels.

“With the relatively low cost of shipping by sea, it makes just as much sense for us to export to Europe as it does to the Midwest United States – provided the tariffs are eliminated,” he explained.