American farmers are sick and tired of Canada playing a game of dairy market access.
There is a selection of cheese at the production facility.
The photo was taken by Ryan Remiorz.
Canada's latest attempt to resolve a long-running dispute over milk and cheese imports is being opposed by U.S. dairy farmers.
Canada was forced to change the way it manages dairy imports after an international panel ruled that Canada wasn't making good on its promise to open up more market access under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Canada proposed a new import allocation system to address the concerns of the panel. The proposal swaps one protectionist policy for another.
Jim Mulhern, CEO of the Arlington, Va.-based National Milk Producers Federation, said in a statement that American farmers are sick and tired of Canada.
Enough is enough
Jim Mulhern
Canada loosened its approach to supply management in order to get the U.S. to get it to loosen its approach to supply management.
Canada agreed to increase the amount of dairy imports that are exempt from high taxes. Canada violated the agreement by giving duty-free dairy to domestic companies, which are more inclined to import bulk quantities of cheap cheese and re, according to U.S. officials. When the quota is used to bring in large chunks of mozzarella to be shredded and sold as frozen pizzas, it becomes less valuable for U.S. exporters.
Canada's TRQ allocation was found to be in violation of the treaty by a dispute-settlement panel late last year. The new system that Canada is proposing would give more quota access to distributors. The cheese category used to give 85 per cent of the TRQs to the processors. 100 per cent of the cheese TRQs would be allocated to the processors and distributors based on their market share.
Why not simply open it up to anyone who wants to buy U.S. cheese?
Nicolas Lamp
Nicolas Lamp, a former dispute settlement lawyer at the World Trade Organization who now teaches trade law at Queen's University, said the proposal appears to still cut out retailers and restaurants, both of which represent a major opportunity for U.S. cheesemakers.
It should be open to anyone who wants to buy cheese from the U.S.
The Retail Council of Canada said on March 8 that it would add unnecessary layers and costs to the food chain at a time when food inflation is already the highest it has been in more than a decade.
The proposal's focus on market share means that the bulk of the quota will go to the processors, who control a larger part of the domestic market. The International Cheese Council of Canada said imported cheese makes up 10% of total cheese sold in Canada.
ICCC vice-chair Joe Dal ferro said on Tuesday that it was geared to benefit the domestic processors.
In the U.S., dairy farmers and exporters are pushing President Joe Biden's administration to support real reforms in Canada's quota system. Shawna Morris, senior vice-president of trade policy at the National Milk Producers Federation, said that the proposed changes will land us in the same spot.
The Canadian goal is that we are forced to primarily sell to our competitors.
Morris stressed that the U.S. industry isn't attacking the supply management system, but only wants to make sure that Canada delivers on its promise to provide American producers with a limited amount of access to the dairy market.
She said that they had a deal.
The proposal is being discussed by the federal government.
Email: jedmiston@postmedia.com
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