In the wake of failed world trade talks last week, Canada will step up its efforts to negotiate bilateral trade deals with individual countries, Canadian ministers said last week.
At a news conference after the July 29 collapse at the World Trade Organization, agriculture minister Gerry Ritz said this does not end Canada’s interest in opening markets.
“We will push ahead with our trade agenda and our efforts to find more opportunities for our producers and exporters,” he said.
“These talks may have stalled at this time, but we remain committed to more liberalized trade, a rules based system and the overall objectives of the Doha negotiations. When the talks resume, we’ll be there. In the meantime, we’re going to be knocking on doors around the world to create new opportunities for our farmers and exporters.”
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Toronto trade lawyer Lawrence Herman insists bilateral deals are by far the second-best alternative.
“Bilaterals deal with market access and tariffs, but only multilateral negotiations get at the more fundamental issue of domestic supports and policies that distort trade,” Herman said.
“To lose the multilateral forum would be a real setback to real reform.”
Trade minister Michael Fortier said he is “somewhat optimistic” that WTO negotiations started in 2001 can be resumed “in the not-too-distant future.”
However, he made it clear that if that happens, Canada will not change its position of opposing weakening the ability to protect supply managed industries. Canada is just one of many countries that want a “special carve-out” from general rules to protect sensitive sectors, he said.
“Our position on supply management will not change,” Fortier said.
“The position has been known for quite some time and Canada has no intention of changing that position. I don’t think there is anything extraordinary about Canada’s position when I compare it to others.”
Ritz said Canada will also continue to oppose a proposal on the WTO table that state trading enterprises such as the Canadian Wheat Board lose their monopoly power by 2013 as part of an end to export subsidies. While the Conservatives want to see an end to the wheat board’s monopoly, they say it should be settled in Canada.
“Our position on our state trading enterprise, it’s just one of two left in the world. The other one’s a small kiwi operation in New Zealand,” he said.
“But having said that, our position as a government has always been that those decisions should be made domestically. We continue to hold that position.”
