Leaders of the two prairie wheat pools last week urged the federal government to use coming world trade talks to fight for lower export barriers, more access and an end to export subsidies.
They also insisted the government make no concessions when the United States and others try to use trade talks to undermine the Canadian Wheat Board.
“As hopefully a strong proponent for the complete elimination of export subsidies, Canada will face pressure to accept restrictions on the operation of state trading enterprises,” warned Saskatchewan Wheat Pool president Leroy Larsen when he appeared Nov. 3 before the House of Commons agriculture committee.
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“However, Canada must vigorously resist being drawn into making such concessions.”
Larsen said state traders can in some cases cause trade distortions but the wheat board has been proven to be a fair trader and a key Canadian farm policy tool.
“With an institution like the CWB such a key component in the Canadian marketplace, Canadian producers cannot afford to accept restrictions that would place them at a commercial disadvantage, nor limit its ability to operate a price-pooling system,” said Larsen.
Ken Edie, of Agricore, urged the government to instruct trade negotiators to press for higher minimum access agreements, “the maximum reduction in tariffs,” an end to the practice some countries use of putting higher tariffs on more processed goods and the elimination of export subsidies.
Most importantly, agreements must be implemented quickly, he said. The last round of negotiations lasted seven years and took six years to implement.
“We need results earlier than that,” Edie told MPs who are conducting hearings into Canadian goals for the next trade round, which opens in a year. “We urge the government of Canada to push for a very tight negotiating time frame and for a short implementation period.”
He said Canadian farmers had high hopes for the results of the last round that ended in 1994.
“However, as we approach the end of the implementation period, we still face insurmountable barriers to access, export subsidies are still depressing world prices and trade-distorting domestic support is still encouraging oversupply in world grain markets,” said Edie.
For Canadian Federation of Agriculture president Jack Wilkinson, the main message to MPs was that Canada must again have a “balanced position” that tries to serve the needs of both exporters and import-sensitive sectors.
Reform MPs were skeptical, arguing this would diminish Canada’s negotiating credibility and hurt chances of gaining more market access for exporters.
Wilkinson said that skepticism does not take into account that most other countries also have mixed interests and import-sensitive sectors.
But will Canada, by arguing both sides of the trade fence, find itself isolated again, as it did on supply management in 1993, asked committee chair John Harvard.
Wilkinson said Canada will have different allies on different issues.
“I believe the Canadian balanced position is going to be somewhat between the two big players (the United States and the European Union),” he said. “We will not agree on all points with either one of them.”
He also told MPs this round of negotiations will not focus on more obvious barriers like tariffs and subsidies. Instead, it will be more about non-tariff barriers such as environmental rules and health concerns, which can be used as non-tariff barriers.
“The trade negotiation won’t be around black or white, whether you are a free trader or not,” he said. “The real discussion will be in the grey areas.”
The witnesses also said Canadian negotiators should try to score some early points by noting Canada has cut subsidies far more than other countries since the last agreement was signed.
