2015 was a big year for trade in Canada's agriculture sector, with the repeal of Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for pork and beef, and the signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) president Ron Bonnett thinks the repeal of U.S. labeling laws was positive for Canada, saying as far as standards are concerned, open trade lines are as important as American concern for food safety.

Bonnett says while it would have been helpful for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to speed up its resolution process, the WTO deserves recognition for its part in COOL repeal.

"Having a body like WTO to rule on trade disputes is critical because otherwise you end up with these trade deals and if somebody decides to go outside the rules and break the rules, you need someone to take an objective look at it and make a ruling on that -- and that has happened in this case," he says.

Heading into the new year, Bonnett says they've already started the process of discussing changes for the next agricultural policy framework, which is due in 2018.

"We actually started the process early last year of reaching out to our membership and other organizations to talk about what's working and what isn't working with current agricultural policy framework," Bonnett says. "I think it's fair to say AgriStability would likely see some changes made that would make it more effective. The other thing I think we're going to be talking to government about is how to coordinate activities within the agricultural policy framework so we can really take advantage some of the trade opportunities that some of these new trade deals have put in place."

Overall, Bonnett says agriculture got a B+ in terms of exposure this year.