SASKATOON (Staff) – If the final report of the Canada-U.S. joint commission looks the same as the interim report, Canadian members should refuse to sign it.
That message was delivered to the Canadian commissioners during a meeting last week with the Canadian Wheat Board’s producer advisory committee.
“We said if that report can’t be changed from the way it is now, don’t sign it,” said advisory committee vice-chair John Clair. “If walking away from the table isn’t really possible, stay there but don’t feel obliged to take the pen.”
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Some committee members have previously called for the Canadian members to resign from the commission to protest continued U.S. attacks on the wheat board, in particular a U.S. department of agriculture study of wheat board pricing that was requested by U.S. commission members. That study accused the board of trading unfairly by dumping wheat on international markets and undercutting U.S. competitors.
During last week’s meeting in Winnipeg, the advisory committee members said the final version of the report must clearly differentiate between the CWB marketing system and the U.S. Export Enhancement Program.
Board, EEP fate linked
In the interim report, released in June, the fates of the board and the EEP are linked.
That outraged many in the Canadian grain industry, who said it implies the board is trade-distorting in the same way as the EEP. Clair said the committee members argued that central desk selling has little in common with the taxpayer-funded subsidies of the EEP, which are designed solely to drive down world prices.
While commission members didn’t respond to the suggestion that they not sign the report, Clair said, they did indicate there was no intention on their part to suggest that the EEP and the CWB system are the same.
“I think they get our point and they will bring it to the attention of their American counterparts and try to remove any connection between EEP and the Canadian Wheat Board,” he said.
