The Canadian Pork Council has decided to join the trade liberalization-promoting group Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, becoming the first member of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture to try to keep a foot in each of two often-competing camps.
Members of the pork council board decided on the move at a recent meeting in New Brunswick.
The hog lobby had flirted with the idea of joining CAFTA two years ago but decided not to after concerns that the alliance position on cuts to domestic support levels was too aggressive and that its call to reduce supply management protections was too divisive.
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Now, pork council executive secretary Martin Rice said CAFTA has tempered its position on domestic support cuts and council members decided their export interests are a good fit with the group.
He said the decision to join CAFTA should not affect the council’s membership in the CFA “but I expect that it will be a topic of discussion when the CFA board meets next week.”
Rice acknowledged that CAFTA’s demand that Canada accept cuts in supply management protections as part of a World Trade Organization deal runs counter to the CFA position.
“But I don’t think the CFA position is that there should never be reductions in supply management protections,” he said.
“That is the view of the SM5 (dairy, poultry, eggs, broiler hatching and turkey) but I don’t see that as the CFA position. Our conversations with the CFA is that they do not want this to affect our membership, although we’ll see what other CFA members say about that.”
