OTTAWA - Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) is watching closely as Canada rejoins the NAFTA negotiations following an agreement in principle on a bilateral 'US-Mexico Trade agreement', announced yesterday. DFC is awaiting further details from the Canadian government as to how Canada will re-engage as part of the negotiation.
DFC representatives will be heading to Washington this week. "We will continue to advocate to ensure Canadian dairy farmers not be negatively impacted as a consequence of any trade agreement," said Pierre Lampron, president of DFC.
Canada's dairy farmers are counting on the Canadian government's leadership to ensure that our nation's right to determine and administer our own domestic policies continues to be respected. As the Prime Minister indicated last month, and reiterated today, "I want to reiterate my strong support and our government's strong support for dairy farmers across our country. Our system of supply management is a model that provides a fair price for farmers, stability for processors and high quality dairy products at an affordable price, and it sustains farming families and rural communities across Canada. Make no mistake, we will continue to protect and defend our supply managed system, that includes at the NAFTA table".
A recent Nanos Research poll revealed that the majority of Canadians support the supply management system and almost two in three Canadians think the government should strongly defend the dairy sector during NAFTA negotiations. The poll also uncovered that nearly eight in ten Canadians would look favourably on politicians who defend Canada's dairy sector in NAFTA negotiations.
Source : Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC)