Three and a quarter per cent market access is a relief, but it's not ideal, according to Dairy Farmers of Canada. That's how much more access foreign suppliers will have to Canadian dairy markets under the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Wally Smith, president of Dairy Farmers of Canada, says the TPP was critical for Canada, but they would've preferred if supply-managed sectors were off the table altogether, noting other trade deals have happened without affecting supply management at all.
The government of Canada also announced a series of programs Monday to help compensate producers as the TPP is carried out, but Smith says it's too soon to say whether or not that will be enough.
"The economists we have at Dairy Farmers of Canada are not assessing only the compensation package, but also the impact and the various product lines that have been touched by the TPP. All tariff lines, right from fluid milk, down to the powdered and cheese, yogurts — everything in between — have all been impacted," he says. "What we can say is the government is committed to compensating us for the impact on our farms, and that's a commitment I'm telling farmers is a deep commitment."
Source : PortageOnline