ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. – In theory, members of the Cairns Group of middle-level exporting countries are supposed to be allies of Canada as the world heads into a new round of trade talks this autumn.
In practice, Canadian Federation of Agriculture leaders are worried the Cairns Group could become an advocate of the aggressive free trade agenda of Australia and New Zealand. That would weaken Canada’s position that trade liberalization and supply management protections can both be defended.
So when Canadian politicians and officials travel to a Cairns trade meeting at the end of August in Argentina, the CFA wants agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief to go there more as a pit bull than a lap dog.
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“We just want to be sure that the minister goes there as an aggressive defender of the Canadian position,” CFA president Bob Friesen said July 29 after the federation board decided it should send a delegation of Canadian farm leaders to Argentina to do the same at a parallel farmers’ meeting.
“The government should not go there to make friends and to be nice guys. They should look for allies, but also make it clear Canada’s interests must be reflected.”
He said Canadian ministers should be direct in pointing out what Canada considers hypocrisy in the Australian and New Zealand positions. The two island countries consider themselves ultimate free traders but also use trade rules to protect some of their vulnerable sectors.
“We’re saying the minister should go there to stake out a strong Canadian position,” Friesen said in an interview after a CFA board debate on trade policy.
It is all part of the posturing leading up to the beginning of World Trade Organization talks in Seattle, Wash., this fall.
The Cairns Group of 13 countries was created in 1986 to give a stronger voice to medium-sized food exporters and importers during the last trade negotiation. They united to lobby for an end to the subsidy war between the United States and the European Union that was disrupting markets and farm incomes.
But there always were tensions inside the group as Australia and New Zealand pushed for a more aggressive liberalization stance, which would have precluded Canada’s defence of protective supply management tariffs.
For this round, the oceanic countries have been pushing hard to turn Cairns into a single-minded free trade-promoting group opposed to all trade barriers.
At the last Cairns meeting in Australia, then CFA-president Jack Wilkinson found himself isolated and under attack for defending Canada’s balanced position.
The Cairns meeting in Argentina will set the group’s initial bargaining position for the next trade talks.
“It is important we get our position reflected now, before it starts,” said Friesen. He, Wilkinson and perhaps several other CFA representatives will fly to the meeting.
