Canada’s agricultural industry revealed its trade policy divisions when
farm leaders were on Parliament Hill recently to discuss the country’s
negotiating stance for the World Trade Organization.
The aggressive free trade promoter Canadian Agrifood Trade Alliance
insisted that Canada must press for a sharp reduction in trade
barriers, including Canada’s protection of dairy, poultry and egg
sectors. Without cutting supply management, CAFTA said the trade
liberalization message will be undermined and trade-dependent sectors
will be harmed.
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Ten percent of Canadian agriculture depends on the domestic market for
survival, Ted Haney of the Canadian Beef Export Federation and CAFTA
vice-president told MPs on a trade committee.
“The 90 percent of Canadian agriculture that drives the industry
nation-wide is exposed to trade and benefits from trade,” he said.
The group reminded politicians about the results of a 1999 George
Morris Centre study, which said eliminating tariffs over the next
decade would increase overall agrifood revenues by $2.5 billion
annually, despite some hurt to the protected dairy and poultry sectors.
“More liberalized world trade would substantially benefit the
agriculture industry and the Canadian economy as a whole,” said the
CAFTA brief to Parliament. It represents exporters as diverse as
Agricore United, cattle producers, food processors, oilseed interests,
the sugar industry and Grain Growers of Canada.
Their apparent willingness to bargain away supply management protective
tariffs to help export sectors was more than Canadian Federation of
Agriculture president Bob Friesen could tolerate.
He warned MPs against assuming that sacrificing supply management to
give foreign firms more access to Canada’s dairy, poultry and egg
markets would lead other countries to open their markets to more
Canadian products.
“Deregulating supply management will not move the bar on increased
access for other sectors,” said the Manitoba hog and turkey producer.
“There’s many reasons it is imperative for our government to maintain
supply management sectors.”
The federation’s brief to the committee said supply management rules
have given farmers market leverage “and ensured strong national
industries. They must not be traded away.”
The national federation of provincial farm groups, supply management
and some commodity organizations said part of the government role is to
exempt federal and provincial regulations that authorize price-setting,
production controls and import restrictions from international deals.
