Canada remains outside what the chair of world agriculture trade talks says is a growing consensus at the World Trade Organization that all tariffs must be reduced.
That includes those that protect Canada’s supply managed sectors of eggs, poultry and dairy products.
Last week Crawford Falconer released his latest version of where he sees agricultural talks heading and it includes an insistence that tariffs on sensitive products imported in excess of quota will be reduced by at least one third as much as deep general tariff cuts, and perhaps as much as 50 or 66 percent.
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For some of Canada’s highest over-quota tariffs, that could be a minimum cut of more than 75 percentage points.
It left supply management leaders and their government defenders warning that the industry could be destroyed.
It left the leaders of export-dominated sectors demanding that Ottawa accept the inevitable and be prepared to sign a deal that could open up billions of dollars in new export opportunities for grain, livestock and other sectors.
It set the stage for an interprovincial confrontation May 30 in Toronto when federal and provincial agriculture ministers meet. Ontario and Quebec ministers said they will use the meeting to insist that Canada not accept the proposed cuts.
From Geneva, Switzerland, May 26, Alberta cattle producer Darcy Davis, president of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, said he hopes it does become an issue at the ministers’ meeting.
“That would let the other provinces have their say with a different perspective,” he said. “I see convergence happening here on a number of issues and I believe we should seize the opportunity.”
Meanwhile, WTO officials say the next several weeks will determine if there is enough consensus among the 152 WTO countries to justify a ministerial meeting in June.
In his report, Falconer recognized that the sensitive products tariff issue remains one that professional negotiators will not be able to resolve and it would likely have to be settled by ministers.
Agriculture minister Gerry Ritz complained that Falconer had continued to talk about over-quota tariff cuts and increased tariff rate quota access despite a personal conversation with him in which he assured the WTO committee chair that Canada finds protection cuts unacceptable.
