Dairy farmers want programs to help them remain competitive when borders open to 17,000 additional tonnes of cheese
The Canadian dairy sector will be compensated for an increase in European cheese imports, says an official with the Dairy Farmers of Canada.
However, details remain on the horizon.
Calls for compensation began after a free trade agreement with the European Union was announced in 2013.
When fully implemented, the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement will provide greater access for Canadian exports entering the EU, including beef, pork and bison.
The arrangement also allows for more than 17,000 new tonnes of EU cheese to enter the Canadian market.
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Including the EU’s existing quota, the trade deal could allow the EU access to 7.5 percent of the Canadian cheese market and a greater chunk of the “fine cheese” market.
Dairy Farmers of Canada and agriculture ministers in Ontario and Quebec have called for compensation for the lost quota.
Opposition party members have pushed the issue and the Conservative government has publicly committed to the idea, but nothing official has been announced.
“We expect that something will come down the road,” said Yves Leduc, director of international trade with the dairy group.
A House of Commons agriculture committee report on the EU-Canada deal released last year said Canadian cheese consumption is growing by as much as 8,000 tonnes per year and will have grown by more than 17,700 tonnes by the time the deal is implemented, which could take another two years.
“What we’re losing essentially is a market equivalent to the 17,000 tonnes of cheese that will be imported at some point in time once the agreement has been fully implemented,” said Leduc.
“Let’s not think that because we operate under supply management that growth is not important to us.”
He said farmers aren’t seeking monetary compensation but rather programs that will help cheese makers and increase competitiveness.
He also raised concern about how new imports would be administered and whether they would be delivered in a “stable manner.”
“This needs to be done in a manner that will limit the distortion of the Canadian cheese market,” he said.
“So that it’s not all imported at Christmas, for example, because that would have a tremendous negative impact.”
