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THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015
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WILL FARMERS GET FAIR TRADE DEAL? Local ag community understandably nervous as Canada negotiates the Trans-Pacific Partnership
BY PAUL J. HENDERSON & TYLER OLSEN Chilliwack Times
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ritics of a massive new trade deal between Canada and 11 other Pacific Rim countries worry what the effect will be on two important Chilliwack agricultural industries: Dairy and poultry. As International Trade Minister and Abbotsford MP Ed Fast continues to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), dairy and poultry farmers say concessions sought by the United States could upend their industries. The TPP aims to lower trade barriers and increase free trade between 12 countries, including Canada, the United States, Japan, Mexico and Australia. And while agriculture is but one small part of this massive trade deal, several reports suggest that the U.S. is asking Canada to abandon its supply management system, which guarantees dairy and poultry farmers set prices for their products, which are distributed by marketing boards. “Our biggest concern is that it is not a level playing field,” Agassiz dairy farmer and BC Dairy Association board member Holger Schwichtenberg told the Times. “We are com-
if it didn’t make “a serious offer on dairy, poultry and agriculture market access.” Chilliwack chicken farmer and city councillor Chris Kloot, however, is confident his industry will survive the negotiations. “Chicken farmers of B.C. support the Canadian government trade policy of expanding market access, improving trade rules and preserving supply management,” he told the Times via email. “This model has been successful through the completion of 12 trade agreements with 43 countries. The claim by some countries that supply managed commodities are protectionist is unfounded. “For example, Canada imports more chicken than six of the other TPP countries combined, including the U.S.” Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon MP Mark Strahl said he has relayed local concerns to Fast on multiple occasions, including this past weekend, and he’s been told they are being heard by Canada’s most senior negotiators on a
regular basis. “Our Conservative Government is committed to defending our system of supply management,” Strahl said in an emailed statement. “Reports that Canada has made particular concessions are false. Negotiations are ongoing. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has stated that we will only sign an agreement that’s in Canada’s best interests.” Speaking to the Abbotsford News Tuesday, Fast expressed hope that a deal could be done that maintained supply management. “We will continue to promote and defend the interests of the supply management system,” he said. “We have negotiated trade agreements with 39 different countries all around the world and supply management has never prevented us from concluding one of those trade agreements and we fully expect the TPP to be no different.” Last Thursday, Bloomberg News
- Holger Schwichtenberg
{ See FARMERS, page A12 }
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peting against subsidized industries in the States and in Europe. . . . Small family farms will be impacted by something like this if it doesn’t go our way.” In May, the Dairy Farmers of Canada released a statement that called for continued support of supply management, but noted that as talks progress, and trade pressure increases, “the level of anxiety among our farmers and industry partners is also intensifying.” Ray Nickel, the president of the BC Poultry Association, said his industry has been told that supply management “is a high priority and not going to be traded away,” but he added that farmers remain concerned that secret negotiations could do away with the system with little notice. Of British Columbia’s 500 poultry producers, 80 per cent are located in the Fraser Valley. On Friday, Reuters, citing anonymous sources, reported that talks had stalled over agriculture trade rules and that the U.S. is considering excluding Canada from the negotiations
“Our biggest concern is that it is not a level playing field. We are competing against subsidized industries in the States and in Europe. . . . Small family farms will be impacted by something like this if it doesn’t go our way.”
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