The Milk Producer - August 2012 - (Page 8)

DAIRYUPDATE Positions staked out While Ottawa has maintained its balanced position, New Zealand and U.S. interests want our market T here has been no indication from Ottawa that the federal government will change its balanced trade position as Canada enters the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations. Nevertheless, U.S. and New Zealand dairy interests have publicly stated they want the talks to pry open our domestic markets for their exports. After the June announcement that Canada would be joining TPP negotiations, a flurry of media coverage speculated the Harper government was about to jettison supply management. So far, the speculation has proven to be without merit. The government has continued to state its support for the uniquely Canadian marketing system. For example, a series of four government media releases early July detailed Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz’s roundtable meetings with grassroots farmers across southern Ontario. Each one stated Ritz highlighted various government initiatives. They all included: “Strong and consistent defence of Canada’s supply management system.” In Ottawa, highly respected national affairs columnist Barry Wilson, who writes for The Western Producer farm newspaper, suggested the antisupply management crowd may have been indulging in wishful thinking. “But at this point, there is not a shred of evidence the Conservatives are wavering,” he wrote in a recent column. In Washington, the National Milk Producers Federation, representing dairy farmers, and the U.S. Dairy 8 | August 2012 | MilkPRODUCER Americans want to keep their market closed to New Zealand. Export Council issued a joint news release welcoming Canada to TPP negotiations. They expect Canada to drop all trade barriers to U.S. dairy products, stating this requirement is fundamental to their support of any deal. “The United States and Canada have had a free trade agreement since 1988, but it did not include dairy products. It is time for this oversight to be changed and we welcome this opportunity to finally make that happen,” says Jerry Kozak, NMPF president and chief executive officer. While NMPF and USDEC want ac- cess to Canadian markets, they also want to keep U.S. domestic markets closed to New Zealand. They complain Fonterra, New Zealand’s nearmonopoly dairy co-operative, has too much clout in the global market. “NMPF has estimated that U.S. dairy farmers could face $20 billion in losses during the first decade of the FTA (free trade agreement) if U.S. dairy tariffs are fully eliminated for New Zealand’s benefit,” they state in a joint news release issued just last February. For its part, Fonterra wants to expand its exports to Canada and Mexico, which is also joining TPP negotiations. While the U.S. has unfettered access to the Mexican dairy market, New Zealand “faces stiff trade barriers on some products,” according to a Fonterra news release. The news release also quotes Fonterra senior executive Sarah Paterson as saying New Zealand sells $55 million worth of dairy products to Canada but can’t increase exports “because of extremely high protectionist barriers applied by the government.” Fonterra’s position on the TPP is simple. It wants negotiators “to be prepared to eliminate trade barriers against dairy products.” What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership? The TPP is a free trade agreement currently under negotiation by nine countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the U.S. and Vietnam. Current membership represents a market of 510 million people and a gross domestic product of $17.6 trillion. With Canada and Mexico participating, the market will comprise 658 million people and a GDP of $20.5 trillion, according to a federal government news release.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Milk Producer - August 2012

The Milk Producer - August 2012
Contents
Editor’s Notes
DFO Chair’s Message
Dairy Update
Legal Corner
Industry Roundup
DFC Promotion
Cover Story
Issues Update
Research
Applied Science
Ruminations
Markets
New ’N’ Noted
Back Forty

The Milk Producer - August 2012