SASKATOON (Staff) – Even if the recommendations of the Canada-U.S. grains commission are never implemented, they have already damaged Canadian interests, says the chair of the Canadian Wheat Board’s producer advisory committee.
Just putting down on paper that the wheat board marketing system distorts trade in the same way as the Export Enhancement Program sends the wrong message south of the border, said Butch Harder.
He said the report is bound to be used by U.S. wheat industry lobbyists and politicians as they continue their campaign to dismantle the board.
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“The Canadian panel was snookered into accepting the U.S. argument that somehow CWB marketing is an unfair trade practice,” said Harder.
Upset by comparison
Many Canadian grain industry officials are upset that the commission linked together the fate of the wheat board, a single desk selling agency run by farmers, and the EEP, an export subsidy program funded by taxpayers.
The panel’s interim report said that if the U.S. agreed to end the EEP and its trade-distorting domestic programs, and if other grain exporters like the European Union did likewise, then Canada should revamp the wheat board so it operates more at risk of profit or loss.
While the report didn’t say exactly what that meant, it did suggest a number of possible changes, including voluntary pooling, dual marketing, public pricing and the end of government guarantees on initial payments.
CWB chief commissioner Lorne Hehn said he found it “distasteful” that the report even raised an issue like voluntary pooling, saying “that’s a Canadian issue, not a bilateral issue.”
Canadian commission member Milt Fair said in an interview the panel wasn’t recommending those things, but simply saying they could studied further if the U.S. and E.U. agreed to make changes. He added the final version of the report, due in September, may make that more clear.
Many have predicted recommendations about the board will never be implemented anyway, because the U.S. and European Union will never agree to dismantle their own subsidies and support programs.
But Owen McAuley, vice-president of Keystone Agriculture Producers, said even if nothing comes of this report, the issue is not going to go away. The Canada-U.S. grain trading relationship is crucial for prairie farmers, especially in Manitoba, and has to be resolved.
