American grain groups should stop targeting the Canadian Wheat Board and aim their guns at the European Union instead.
That’s the message a delegation from the wheat board delivered last week during meetings with United States. farm and grain industry groups and politicians in Washington, D.C.
Chief executive officer Greg Arason said in an interview the board tried to convince the Americans they have little to gain by weakening the wheat board.
“In the whole scheme of things, what benefit is that going to be to American farmers compared to getting some relief from the EU’s very aggressive subsidization programs?” said Arason.
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Farmers in Canada and the U.S. could benefit substantially if their governments worked together in the upcoming round of World Trade Organization talks to bring in measures that would reduce the overall level of subsidies, particularly in Europe.
The board delegation met with administration officials, members of congress and farm and grain industry lobbyists during the two-day trip.
During the meetings, CWB officials also talked about recent changes in the board’s governance structure and told their hosts that the board is not a government subsidy to farmers.
“We wanted to explain very clearly that the CWB does not represent a subsidy and we do trade fairly under the rules of WTO and that’s been substantiated eight times in various U.S. government studies and investigations,” Arason said.
What, not who
The board also urged the Americans not to get hung up on philosophical opposition.
“The point we make is don’t judge us by what we are, judge us by what we do,” said Arason. “If we work within the rules and operate in a commercially driven way, that should be the test, not how we’re structured.”
He also defended the board against charges of undue secrecy by arguing that the agency releases as much information, or more, than the major private grain merchants.
At the same time, he said, the board is a commercial organization and won’t release sensitive information that its customers don’t want released.
