In Brief

Canada

With the US no longer a reliable trading partner, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada and China were in talks to deepen bilateral trade and work towards an eventual free trade agreement.

Trudeau made the comment after meeting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the third annual Canada-China Leaders’ Dialogue. However, according to US officials, under the new North American Free Trade Agreement, Canada and Mexico needed permission from the US to negotiate bilateral trade deals.

Finland

Meat and dairy products are responsible for more than 75% of greenhouse gas emissions emanating from the diets of consumers in the EU.

Researchers from the University of Helsinki found that the average EU citizen had a food footprint of

1 070kg of CO equivalent a 2 year, when emissions from production, land-use change, and international transportation were taken into account.

That was similar to the emissions from one passenger vehicle that had driven 6 000km.

Australia

The Australian government has blasted a University of Oxford study calling for a tax on red meat to help cover health costs.

The university report said that a tax on red and processed meats would save lives and reduce healthcare costs.

Australian agriculture minister, David Littleproud, said the taxation idea was apparently the result of the World Health Organization stating that eating large amounts of red meat had the potential to cause cancer. – Alan Harman