Lack of CETA compensation in budget angers dairy farmers
iPolitics | 23 March 2016
Lack of CETA compensation in budget angers dairy farmers
by Kelsey Johnson
The federal budget’s lack of compensation for cheese producers for concessions made as part of the Canada-Europe trade agreement has angered Canada’s dairy industry.
“This year, before the next budget comes down, CETA will be implemented and by doing so there is going to be a cost burden put on our farmers,” Dairy Farmers of Canada Vice-President Reint Dykstra told iPolitics, Wednesday.
“There’s no mention of compensation in the budget at all and that is extremely disappointing,” Dykstra said.
“We are the ones that feed the country. We help feed the Canadian economy and we seem to be the forgotten lot again.”
Under the pending Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), European cheesemakers would be able to ship an additional 17,700 tonnes of product — 16,000 tonnes of fine cheese and 1,700 tonnes of industrial cheese — to Canada.
International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland has said she expects the deal will be in place as early as 2017.
Dairy Farmers of Canada has estimated the CETA concession will cost the dairy industry $300 million in market losses.
The former Conservative government promised Canadian dairy, egg and poultry farmers $4.3 billion in compensation. The 15-year funding, unveiled in October, was meant to cover concessions made on supply management under CETA and the Trans Pacific Partnership.
However, the spending was never authorized by the federal cabinet — which meant the Liberals were not bound by the promise. Freeland has since said the $4.3 billion compensation proposal is under review.
Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay has repeatedly said the dairy industry will be compensated for concessions made on supply management under CETA and the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement.
The missing compensation isn’t the only CETA figure the industry is waiting for, Dykstra said. The federal government has not said how much tonnage is scheduled to arrive in the first year.
“We know that the government knows what will come in on the first year. They know the tonnages and where they come from, but we don’t have that insight.”
The federal compensation, Dysktra said, needs to be in place by the time the first shipment of cheese comes in.
“The first load that comes in is going to be the first load that is going to be affecting my ability to ship milk. That is the burden that we are going to have to reconcile,” Dykstra said. “It comes off my bottom line.”
The industry plans to continue meeting with MPs of all parties to discuss the CETA compensation issue, Dykstra said. Dairy Farmers of Canada will also be seeking a meeting with the Prime Minister’s Office.
