The U.S. has requested Canada end supply management within 10 years
By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com
Canada’s national dairy organization has reaffirmed it will not budge on supply management during the ongoing NAFTA discussions.
The United States has requested Canada end its supply management of the dairy sector within the next decade, according to The Canadian Press.
And John Melle, the lead NAFTA negotiator for the U.S., stated in an email yesterday that the U.S. wants more access to Canadian markets and more opportunities for U.S. producers, according to Bloomberg.
Canada’s southern neighbour and President Trump have attacked supply management a number of times this year. But Dairy Farmers of Canada isn’t giving an inch in terms of negotiating supply management.
“We are not surprised by the U.S. demands, they are in line with the demands they have made in other sectors,” Pierre Lampron, DFC president, told Farms.com in an emailed statement. “It’s outrageous (and) would be the end of supply management.
“We do not see supply management as being on the table.”
And neither does Canada’s federal government.
Since the idea of renegotiating NAFTA became a possibility, the government has been consistent in its message and defence of Canadian dairy farmers and supply management.
“It’s a model for the world and that’s in fact what we are,” federal Minister of Agriculture Lawrence MacAulay told Bloomberg yesterday. “To deal with anything else is simply a non-starter. We need a ‘right’ deal and we’re not going to sign any deal.”
Canada’s trade representatives echoed MacAulay’s sentiments.
“I don’t know if (the U.S.) is going to change their mind but I can tell you we won’t change our mind,” Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told Bloomberg.
And DFC is hopeful the Canadian government’s stance won’t change.
“The Prime Minister and his cabinet have clearly expressed their support and willingness to defend the dairy industry and supply management,” Lampron said in an emailed statement.
“We remain confident they will stay true to their word. DFC will continue to advocate that Canadian dairy farmers must not be negatively impacted as a consequence of any trade agreement.”
In addition to supply management protecting Canada’s dairy producers, it also protects the workers in the dairy industry.
There are 11,280 dairy farms in Canada and 22,904 manufacturing jobs in the dairy sector, according to the Canadian Dairy Information Centre.
Keeping Canadians employed is a crucial part of the supply management discussions and those talks could get tumultuous, according to Francois Laporte, president of Teamsters Canada.
“The United States launched a violent assault on Canada’s dairy supply management system,” he said in a statement Monday. “Tens of thousands of jobs will be in jeopardy unless the Trudeau Government continues its defense of dairy workers and farmers.”