ed have provided barrier free access to over 85 million consumers. The North American Free Trade Agreement covers virtually every field of business in Canada. Agriculture products play a significant role in Canada's exports to other countries. There very superior livestock and excellent crops have contributed to a productive and prosperous trade of their agricultural products and services around the world. Canada's total exports surpassed $13 billion a year. Overall, Canadian exports have benefited to the immediate access to the Mexican market under the deal. Mexican import licenses on wheat, barley and table potatoes have been eliminated and the tariffs on other products have been dropped. All these items are important crops to Canadian farmers and with these costs cut they have received a greater profit and more trade. NAFTA also opens up great opportunities for livestock farmers. Because Mexico lacks an adequate fresh water supply their livestock operations aren't very big. Therefore Mexico must rely on imports from Canada. NAFTA helps Canadian farmers and farm related businesses to a much greater ease to an ever growing market that will benefit them in the future. Canada's service industry is the fastest growing sector of its economy. More than nine million Canadians are employed by the service sector. Cross border trade in services was also dealt with for the first time in the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. The NAFTA deal included provisions for this type of trade and created procedures aimed at encouraging the recognition of licenses and certificates through the development of mutually acceptable professional standards and criteria such as education, experience and professional development. Another area that benefited is their financial industry. This industry consists of banking, insurance, securities firms and trust companies. Canadian banking, insurance, and security firms will be able to operate wholly owned subsidies that will allow Canadian businesses to service their clients throughout the NAFTA region.
