A 10-year dispute between Alberta and Ontario over access for imitation dairy products has ended with a ruling in Alberta’s favour.
A panel ruling under the Agreement on Internal Trade’s new dispute resolution process, determined that Ontario could not restrict the sale of certain vegetable oil blended dairy products.
“It has been a long fight but one that was worth fighting,” said Iris Evans, Alberta’s minister of international and intergovernmental relations in a news release Oct. 25.
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Alberta, supported by Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Manitoba, asked in March for a panel to determine if regulations in Ontario’s Milk Act violated the AIT.
The panel recommended Ontario comply with the AIT no later than Feb. 1, 2011. If it does not, it could be fined up to $5 million.
The ruling is good news for oilseed producers and processors, said Saskatchewan agriculture minister Bob Bjornerud because it allows access to one of Canada’s largest markets.
The Vegetable Oil Industry of Canada estimated at the start of the dispute that access to Ontario could create a $225 million market for dairy-vegetable oil blends. These would include canola and sunflower oil products.
