Hi All,

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1845&ncid=1845&e=9&u=/cpress/20040803/ca_pr_on_na/wto_cda_farmers

Canada - Canadian Press 
 
 
Liberals risking wheat board, dairy and poultry production at WTO, says NDP

Tue Aug 3, 3:58 PM ET  

SANDRA CORDON 

OTTAWA (CP) - The Liberal government has put too much on the table at world
trade talks, gambling with the future of Canadian farmers and the rural
economies they support, the NDP charged Tuesday. 

Several "fundamentals" of domestic farming - from supply
management in milk and poultry to the Canadian Wheat Board - will be on the
agenda in coming talks at the World Trade Organization (news - web sites),
says NDP agriculture critic Charlie Angus. That could endanger rural
Canada, the newly elected MP for the Ontario riding of Timmins-James Bay
told a news conference Tuesday. 

"The future of many Canadian farms is at risk," said Angus, who
fears even crop insurance programs could be up for grabs. 

"The future of the Canadian Wheat Board is seriously in doubt." 

Canada, the United States and the other 145 members of the WTO agreed
during the weekend to a plan aimed at restarting stalled talks to develop
new, more fair global trade rules. 

Agriculture was just one aspect of negotiations launched in 2001 in Doha,
Qatar, that collapsed last fall in Cancun, Mexico. 

Countries also pledged to work at reducing trade barriers in industrial
goods and service industries such as telecommunications and banking. 

But for Canada, protecting the agriculture sector while getting better
access to markets around the world has become a key focus. 

To spur negotiations, countries including the United States and the
European Union (news - web sites) agreed on the weekend to end certain
massive export subsidies on farm products and to cut import duties around
the world. 

That puts pressure on Canada to open up its supply managed egg, dairy and
poultry sectors. 

It also means fresh attacks on the Winnipeg-based wheat board, which holds
the monopoly to sells Western Canadian grain abroad on behalf of almost
100,000 farmers. 

The wheat board has faced roughly a dozen challenges from Washington and
other competitors in the international grain trade over its monopoly and
the fact Ottawa helps to backstop its deficits. 

But it has always been found to conform with global trading rules. 

Trade Minister Jim Peterson said Canada could find no allies in its fight
to keep the wheat board off the agenda at the tough weekend talks in
Geneva. 

But Peterson promised that Ottawa will defend the board and the supply
management system. 

"Our CWB has been proven to be consistent with our international trade
obligations and I am confident . . .we will be able use this as an
opportunity to remind our WTO partners of that," Peterson said in an
interview after the talks. 

Yet the wheat board, governed by 10 elected farmers and five federal
appointees, remains worried, as do dairy and egg producers. 

They say they understand the need for freer global trade but worry about
the possible cost. 

"We encourage our government to continue to fight for Canadian
agriculture and ensure that its commitment to supply management is
translated into the final WTO agreement," said David Fuller, chairman
of the Chicken Farmers of Canada. 

Ed de Jong, president of the Canadian Broiler Hatching Egg Marketing
Agency, said trade officials assure him the talks will further Canada's aim
of better access to world export markets. 

But Bob Friesen, president of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture,
warned that when talks resume next month, there's plenty of room for the
U.S. to keep subsidizing its farmers while trying to limit Canada's ability
to manage its farm sector. 

"Canada will have to work hard to ensure its right to maintain these
systems is not lost," Friesen said. 

"The wheat board and supply management are effective marketing tools
for Canadian producers that do not distort global trade." 


From the desk of...


   Michael
... For some reason, a glaze passes over people's faces when you say Canada.
- Sondra Gotlieb, columnist, wife of Canada's Ambassador in Washington
Quoted in The NY Times, 8 July 1982



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