REGINA – Supply-managed industries in Saskatchewan have earned the provincial agriculture minister’s support in a fight against an American challenge to Canadian protective tariffs.
Eric Upshall met with representatives of the province’s dairy, egg and poultry industries March 1.
Lloyd Sandercock, of Fort Qu’Appelle, Sask., chair of the Canadian Chicken Marketing Agency, said the group wanted to confirm Upshall’s support for the supply-managed sector in the face of the American challenge under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The Americans say Canadian tariffs which replaced import restrictions as a result of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade negotiations are higher than those allowed by NAFTA. A panel is hearing the case and a decision is expected by June.
Canada said Americans agreed to provisions under NAFTA that say World Trade Organization rules take priority over NAFTA rules.
