The Philippines will now accept imports of Canadian cattle, sheep and goats, the Canadian government said, adding modestly to a series of market openings for the country's livestock industry.

The Philippines imports a total of C$9 million ($8.9 million) worth of cattle and about C$300,000 worth of sheep and goats annually, Canada's agriculture and trade ministers said in a statement.

While the market is relatively small, its opening comes days after South Korea agreed to accept Canadian beef for the first time in nine years and after several other breakthroughs for Canada, the world's third-largest beef shipper.

The Canadian livestock industry's biggest trade victory of recent years may be the World Trade Organization's ruling in November that mandatory U.S. country of origin meat-labeling requirements are too stringent.

The United Arab Emirates and Vietnam also agreed last year to accept imports of Canadian live cattle, ending eight-year-old bans. (Reuters)