by SUSAN MANN
Cairns Group countries are meeting in Saskatoon this week to discuss how to break the current impasse in World Trade Organization talks.
A key part of the 36th Cairns Group ministerial meeting Sept. 7-9 is how to re-engineer and move the world trade talks forward, a senior Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada official told reporters during a telephone conference today. The briefing was held under condition that the official not be named. The Cairns member countries will try to develop recommendations for the future work program for the world trade talks’ agricultural negotiations.
The official said the Cairns Group meeting is being held in advance of a WTO ministerial meeting slated for December.
The Cairns Group is a network of like-minded exporting countries working to foster rule-based, multilateral agricultural trade. Canada joined the group in the early 1980s. According to the Cairns Group website, the group includes Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Uruguay.
The official said the Cairns Group was instrumental in establishing disciplines on trade-distorting subsidies during the last World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement called the Uruguay Round.
Since the launch of the current round of world trade talks 10 years ago, the Cairns group countries have worked together to influence the agenda of the negotiations and enable concrete rule-based agricultural trade proposals to be developed.
In addition to talking about how to jump-start the stalled world trade talks, officials at the Cairns Group meeting will discuss Russia’s accession to the WTO, food security and other matters that are important to agricultural exporting countries. Part of that is related to Canada’s concern with countries increasingly using non-tariff measures to limit agricultural imports, the official said. BF
Comments
How is Canada going to explain its 2 farmers system of haves and have not
SUPPLY MANAGEMENT
Why not use Canada as a Dumping ground for Agriculture produce. Look in the stores at the produce that is produce in other countries. People had to be really blinded if they think that if they get rid of supply managment that it will be rosy for everyone that wants to milk cows, do eggs or turkeys and chickens. The marketing boards may not be the best but least they keep alot of poorer quaility junk off our store shelves. Walk through the stores and look at the food that is no under supply man. and see where its all from. Who is making money from those products it not the canadian farmers , its the food giants retail companies. I prefer to good buy food grown ,package and sold in CANADA.
MADE AND PRODUCED IN CANADA
in that case, you shouldn't be opposed to letting consumers have a choice - buying high-priced Canadian dairy and poultry products if they want to feel safe, or even patriotic, or buying lower-priced imports if they want to save money.
Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON
"Part of that is related to Canada’s concern with countries increasingly using non-tariff measures to limit agricultural imports, the official said."
From the view of anyone paying attention....that would have to include supply management
If my understanding is correct, we use tariff barriers (and obscenely high ones, at that) to protect supply management - therefore Canada feels perfectly justified assailing everyone else's non-tariff barriers, as long as they don't ever notice our own tariff barriers - barriers are barriers, they're all the same, and Canadians are among the most-shameless hypocrites anywhere.
Somebody should force our ag leaders, and our supply managed farmers, to do like they do in kindergarten when someone tells a whopper - make them sit in the corner.
Stephen Thompson, Clinton ON
Canada's political response: " We have a balanced trade position" when asked about its duplicity on trade is an oxymoronic statement. You cannot have your cake and eat it to.... forever
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