Editorial: O Canada!
OPINION: Politicians the world over have as their priority - get elected and stay elected.
The proposed Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) released last month allows duty free access for 65,000t of Canadian beef, worth $680m, into the EU, 50,000t of it new quota. Pork allowances will increase to 80,000t, all new quota.
The deal will also cut about 95% of EU agricultural tariffs, previously a huge barrier to trade, which averaged 13.9%. But there is a downside for Canadian cheese makers: EU fine cheese imports will substantially increase to 32,000t.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper released the CETA text, requiring legal review, translation and ratification by the Canadian and European parliaments.
The Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA) is happy with increased access to the largest consumer market in the world.
CFA president Ron Bonnett thanked the Canadian Government for the deal. “We are confident the provisions will be implemented soon so our exporters can begin benefiting from the deal.”
Between 2010 and 2012, Canada’s annual agricultural exports to the EU averaged $2.8b, led by wheat, soybeans and other oilseeds, canola oil, frozen fruit and maple syrup.
Bonnett acknowledges the downside. The CFA has always urged a balanced trade deal that strengthens and supports all Canada’s commodities, he says.
“We insist the Government works with the Canadian dairy industry to [limit] any damage the agreement may cause the Canadian dairy sector,” Bonnett said.
US dairy industry trade groups are unhappy with parts of the deal containing provisions on geographical indications (GIs) and reallocating to the EU a portion of the WTO tariff rate quota for cheese.
The National Milk Producers Federation says this would raise artificial trade barriers restricting market access for American cheeses to the Canadian market.
The provisions on geographical indications are alarming because they grant automatic protection to the EU for “asiago,” “feta,” “fontina,” “gorgonzola” and “munster” in complete disregard of Canadian intellectual property laws, the NMPF says.
“Cheese manufacturers that produced those cheeses prior to October 18, 2013 will be allowed to continue to use those names, but future producers of those cheeses will have to add qualifiers, such as “kind,” “type,” “style” and “imitation.”
“These new limitations on the use of generic names clearly violate Canadian intellectual property procedures and existing international trade commitments.
“The automatic protection for five cheese names that are generic in Canada, the US and globally is another example of the EU’s overreach on geographical indications,” it says.
As part of the agreement, Canada also reallocated 800t of its 20,412t WTO tariff rate quota for cheese to the EU. This reallocation further restricts the limited access US cheese exporters have into the Canadian market.
“Canada added insult to injury by impairing the quality of the cheese market access US exporters expect to gain through ongoing Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations, and by moving to water down the small access they currently offer to US exporters through Canada’s WTO quota,” says Jaime Castaneda, senior vice president for the NMPF.
.“This is yet another example of Canada’s work at every turn to limit access into its market for highly competitive US products.”
