Two agricultural lobby groups that promote an aggressive trade liberalization deal at World Trade Organization talks are complaining that agriculture minister Gerry Ritz has misrepresented their position.
Officials from the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance and the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association said their organizations still view a multilateral trade deal as best for their industries.
They objected to a suggestion from Ritz that with WTO talks in apparent trouble, both groups are pressuring the government to negotiate more bilateral one-on-one trade agreements.
He said it was a change in position.
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Alanna Koch, president of CAFTA, said the minister is mistaken.
“That certainly is a bit of a stretch,” she said Oct. 29. “We always have had our focus on the multilateral stage but we understand that bilaterals are here to stay. We think they are a distant second-best but if they are done, then agriculture should not be left out.”
John Masswohl, Ottawa-based CCA international relations director, said the minister misrepresented the association’s position.
“We certainly aren’t pushing for bilaterals as a substitute for WTO,” he said.
In an October interview, Ritz was asked about criticism from groups including CAFTA that the government’s WTO negotiating position favours supply management protection at the expense of exporter interests.
The minister denied the charge, insisting the government has a balanced approach that serves the interests of export and trade-sensitive sectors.
Then he suggested his critics have changed their advice on the proper trade strategy.
“I got the same advice from CAFTA and the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association years ago saying: ‘don’t do bilaterals. It’s all WTO or nothing’ and they wanted all their eggs in one basket’ and we kept saying we’ve got to do both, we’re got to be prepared for eventualities,” said Ritz. “Now they’re saying ‘we should get out and do bilaterals, why weren’t we?’ So it’s a moving target.”
Koch said that is a distortion of CAFTA’s position.
