TPP compensation a question mark for Canada's supply-management sector

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

by SUSAN MANN

The federal government has yet to inform Canada’s supply-managed sectors whether it will provide the previous Conservative government’s $4.3 billion to support transition to the greater domestic market competition under the Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal.

Dairy Farmers of Ontario chair Ralph Dietrich said dairy leaders are encouraging the federal Liberal government “to bring forth the money for this infrastructure investment; we’re hopeful that can be taken care of.”

International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland signed the deal on Feb. 4 in New Zealand in a ceremony that included representation from the deal’s 12 participating countries.

Dietrich said the dairy industry doesn’t like to give up access to the domestic market, but “the key takeaways that we had (when the previous Conservative government announced the deal) were the opportunities, and in particular the money earmarked for infrastructure. We’re very keen on that and we think that’s very important and vital for the industry.”

When announcing that a deal had been reached in October 2015, the previous federal government had committed $450 million in funding for a processor modernization program.

Another fund, the Market Development Initiative, was to provide funding to help supply-managed groups promote and market their products.

There were also two compensation programs for supply-managed farmers: $2.4 billion for income guarantees for 15 years after the deal takes effect and $1.5 billion for quota value protection for farmers.

Dietrich said he has not heard if the current government will provide funding for the compensation programs. “We’re working with the government to see whatever way we can help the producers but our focus, from a long-term perspective, is for processing infrastructure to continue to be strong and to grow strong into the future.”

Even though the federal government signed the deal this month it has yet to provide formal consent, and that won’t be done until it’s debated and comes up for a vote in the House of Commons.

“Signing does not equal ratification,” Freeland noted in a statement last month posted on the Global Affairs Canada website.  

Freeland said the government is committed to a full and open debate in Canada’s parliament on the agreement. Now that the deal is signed, all participating 12 countries have up to two years to make a final decision to ratify it.

Only with Parliament’s ratification can Canada’s involvement in the deal take effect.

Ron Davidson, Canadian Meat Council international trade, government and media relations director said the meat council strongly supports the deal because it can gain markets “by increasing our meat product exports, particularly to Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam. Japan provides the opportunity for the biggest market gains in the short term,” Davidson said.

However, if Canada didn’t participate in the TPP, there would be frightening implications for the country’s meat sector, he explained. TPP countries, particularly Japan, are important international markets for Canada’s beef and pork.

If Canada weren’t included in the TPP, countries participating in the deal would serve those international markets, he said. In the case of Japan, Davidson said their hope is TPP countries will be given preferential access in the short term over non-TPP countries. BF