The Conservative majority on the House of Commons trade committee has supported the government’s plan to conclude a free trade deal with the European Union this year, largely without conditions.
Negotiations are expected to wrap up this summer with a formal deal presented to Parliament for ratification as early as next year.
While acknowledging that agriculture is a sensitive trade issue, the majority committee report tabled in Parliament last week made no specific recommendations on agricultural issues.
It accepted that supply management protectionism is a contentious issue in agriculture and that federal representatives promised supply management import controls would be defended.
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Opposition MPs on the committee said that was not good enough.
They filed minority reports demanding more explicit statements of support for Canadian farmers.
New Democrats on the committee said the government should exclude discussions of reducing over-quota tariff levels on dairy, poultry and egg imports and re-affirm farmers’ “unfettered ability to collectively manage domestic supply” for supply managed products.
The NDP also added a CWB demand that relates more to World Trade Organization rules than a Canada-EU trade deal. WTO rules that Canada has signed stipulate that new government-empowered farm product marketing monopolies cannot be created.
Still, the NDP committee members said the right to re-create the CWB should be defended in Canada-EU negotiations.
“The government should effectively safeguard the capacity to institute or re-institute a single desk for grain marketing in any geographic region should a majority of farmers’ elected representatives decide to do so,” NDP MPs recommended.
NDP wheat board critic Pat Martin has conceded that international law will not allow the CWB’s monopoly to be recreated once it ends July 31.
Liberal MP Wayne Easter, his party’s sole member on the trade committee, demanded that the government make clear what supply management protections are being negotiated and what concessions the government is prepared to make to get a deal.
The majority committee report recognized the divisive issues around agriculture and trade, noting that dairy producers argued to preserve their protected system while some export sectors were less supportive.
“Access to agricultural markets is generally one of the most contentious issues in bilateral or multilateral negotiations,” it said.
“In light of what committee members heard on issues such as GMOs, supply management and the rules of origin, negotiations to reach a CETA (comprehensive economic and trade agreement) between Canada and the EU are no exception.”
