Canada has a commitment in hand from Israel to work with federal officials on granting market access for Canadian beef.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz made the announcement Wednesday coming out of a meeting with Israel's Agriculture Minister Orit Noked.
Israeli officials pledged to work with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Canada's Market Access Secretariat to "move Canada's request forward."
Canada would be a new exporter of beef to Israel, whose total beef imports in 2010 from all countries were valued at about $370 million.
Canada's key agri-food exports to Israel at the moment are pulses, canola and beverages, with total Canadian agri-food exports in 2010 valued at about $30 million.
Total bilateral trade between the two countries has "more than doubled" since the signing of a Canada-Israel free trade agreement in 1997, reaching $1.4 billion in 2010. Of that trade, $63 million was in agricultural goods.
