One word could go a long way toward determining the fate of the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk marketing system, say CWB officials.
A World Trade Organization framework agreement signed in August 2004 says “the future use of monopoly powers” will be the subject of future WTO negotiations.
That has been generally interpreted as meaning the board could be negotiated out of existence.
But CWB officials on a lobbying trip to Europe have a different interpretation.
“It talks about negotiating the future use of monopoly powers,” said CWB director Larry Hill.
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“That does not mean the elimination of monopoly powers, but rather how they are used.”
In the board’s view, that means any future negotiations should be about setting out rules governing how state trading enterprises like the board can do business, not whether they should be eliminated.
Assuming those rules would require that an STE operate in accordance with commercial principles, that wouldn’t threaten the future existence of Canada’s grain marketing agency.
“We have always used the single desk in accordance with commercial interests and always will,” said Hill, adding that since the board’s mandate is to maximize returns to farmers, it would have no reason to operate in any other way.
He said it would be unfair to place any additional restrictions on the board that would put it at a competitive disadvantage to privately owned multinational grain companies.
Not on the table
The board also said that negotiating the future existence of single desk STEs would essentially be an issue of competition, and WTO member countries have agreed that competition policy will not be negotiated during the current round.
“It’s incumbent on Canada to take the language that’s there and define it, and that’s what we’re working to do alongside Canadian negotiators,” said Victor Jarjour, the board’s vice-president of strategic planning.
