As Canada-European Union free trade talks grind toward an end, negotiators for the first time have exchanged agricultural “offers” that will be discussed at the next meeting in Canada in October.
At the end of the seventh session in Brussels after a year and a half of talks, agricultural texts finally were exchanged and they are expected to be among the most complex parts of the negotiation.
Canada is asking for elimination of non-tariff barriers that often keep grain and oilseed shipments out of Europe. A key issue is a demand that the EU establish a rule that accepts unintentional low-level presence of unapproved genetically modified material in shipments from Canada.
Ontario cattleman Stan Eby, president of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, said during a week of lobbying in Brussels he sensed that the Europeans are becoming more comfortable with the idea.
“People were willing to discuss it and it looks like an area we could come together on,” he said in an interview.
Cattle and pork exporters also want better access but that issue has not yet been debated.
In return, it is expected that the EU is demanding Canadian respect for geographic indicators on European products, ending the ability of Canadian companies to label domestic products with the European location name that is a brand of the original product. Wine products like champagne and cheese products like gruyere are examples.
The French insist that “Canadian champagne” violates a Champagne region trademark.
The EU also will demand greater access to the Canadian market for European cheese. Since this will affect supply management protections, it will be a sensitive issue for Canada.
“They definitely want more cheese access and that will be a big issue,” said Eby. “It will be an 11th hour discussion.”
With agricultural texts among the last to be exchanged and then to be negotiated, it is expected the free trade talks that were supposed to wrap up in Ottawa in October now will be extended into 2012.
But both sides said after the most recent round of negotiations that they are confident that a deal will be reached. With two-way trade worth $46.4 billion last year, Europe is Canada’s second-largest trade partner for Canadian exports.
The Canadian government says a deal would create billions of dollars worth of new trade opportunities.
“While a number of issues remain complex and will need further work over the coming months, significant progress was made across the board including on goods and services and public procurement,” the EU delegation to Canada said in a July 18 statement about the just-completed negotiating session. “The negotiations remain fully on track and negotiators remain confident to reach a very ambitious agreement.”
