REGINA — Five industry ad hoc review committees will be established to help the Federal Provincial Task Force on Orderly Marketing make recommendations on sustainable systems for Canada.
Canada’s agriculture ministers, meeting in Regina last week, agreed the committees should be appointed in the dairy, chicken, broiler hatching eggs, turkey and egg industries. The committees are to report to the ministers at a meeting in Winnipeg this July.
Federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale said the continuing review process indicates governments’ willingness to do what has to be done “not only to survive but to thrive.”
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He said this is the kind of co-operation and collaboration “that will ensure that our orderly marketing systems prevail into the future.”
Representation varied
The committees, which will include producers, processors, government officials and industry representatives, are being established upon recommendation of the task force, which also saw its mandate extended until July.
According to the task force executive summary, each committee will review eight conditions for sustainable orderly marketing proposed in an action plan: enforceable national plans; realistic alternatives to unanimity; workable allocation formulas; decision-making by stakeholders; compliance mechanisms; binding dispute settlement and appeal mechanisms; strengthened supervisory authorities; and related legislative requirements.
The committees are encouraged to reach consensus on the policy basis for the next generation of federal-provincial agreements, institutional structures and solutions to operational and program issues.
The task force also recommended the federal government establish a policy on tariff rate quota administration as soon as possible “in order to provide a predictable business framework in the dairy, poultry and egg industries.” The ad hoc committees were encouraged to develop a position on tariff rate quotas by the end of May to provide input in the policy. The ministers agreed the policy should be established and that federal agency programs be made compatible with Canada’s obligations under GATT.
