Canada will be in compliance with a World Trade Organization order that it reform by Aug. 1 the way it treats imported American grain in the handling and transportation
system.
On May 19, hours before a House of Commons vote that could have defeated the government and killed any unapproved bills, Bill C-40 amending Canadian grain and transportation legislation was approved by Parliament and signed into law by the governor-general.
The legislative changes ensure that imported American grain receives the same treatment in the system as Canadian grain.
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It ended the need for prior approval by the Canadian Grain Commission before American grain is imported or mixed and now includes imported grain transportation under the freight-rate-limiting provisions of the railway revenue cap.
As part of an agreement to move it through Parliament quickly, the Conservatives won a government concession that there will be a thorough and public review of the Canada Grains Act and the Canadian Grain Commission within a year.
Bill C-40 moved through Parliament in almost record speed as MPs and senators looked at a possible election call May 19.
Debate and committee hearings were minimal as politicians co-operated to beat the WTO’s Aug. 1 deadline.
“It is critical that we get this bill through quickly,” said Wayne Easter, parliamentary secretary to agriculture minister Andy Mitchell, during a Senate agriculture committee hearing May 17.
“By the first of August, if we do not bring our laws basically into compliance with the WTO, we would find ourselves in a position in which the U.S. could legally retaliate against a number of commodities for us not being in compliance. We certainly do not want to give the U.S. that particular opportunity.”
In less than two days, the Senate had passed the bill and it had been proclaimed into law.
Government officials insisted this will not lead to a sharp increase in imports of American grain to clog an already strained Canadian grain handling and transportation system.
Some industry players questioned that assumption but said Canada had no choice but to comply with the WTO ruling.
Defying it would not only lead to U.S. retaliation but also undermine Canada’s position as a defender of WTO rules.
