Press Room  —  News releases

For immediate release

FOOD CRISIS:
The WTO’s new proposals will only make matters worse – Canada must oppose them

According to the farm spokespersons, the current food crisis shows that agricultural products cannot be treated just like any other commodity since agriculture and food are vital sectors for every country. Soaring food prices and their devastating consequences for developing countries show the dead end to which this liberalization policy is leading us. Furthermore, in the context of rising energy costs and global warming, it makes no sense to increase energy expenditures and greenhouse gas production to ship food tens of thousands of kilometres.

"The long-term solution for both the environment and food security is to allow countries to exercise their food sovereignty by developing an agricultural sector focused primarily on feeding their people," said Christian Lacasse. He pointed out that less than 10 per cent of world food products is traded between countries. "The WTO should regulate the world trade of these products and let countries determine their own internal agricultural policies and degree of food self-sufficiency," added Carolynne Griffith.

Supply management in Canada threatened by the new proposal

The two coalitions, which represent their province’s dairy, poultry and egg industries, are worried about the significant negative consequences of this new proposal, which would impose major reductions to over-quota tariffs and increases in market access. Supply management specifically espouses the objectives of food sovereignty. It allows producers to make a decent living from planned sales to the domestic market, without the need for taxpayer-funded subsidies, and assures Canadians of a supply of top-quality products at stable and reasonable prices. Thanks to supply management, for instance, Canada was protected from soaring world dairy prices in the past year.

On November 22, 2005, the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion mandating Canada’s negotiators to ensure that supply-managed commodities are subject to no reduction in over-quota tariffs and no additional access to their markets at the end of the WTO negotiations. To achieve this, Canada is resorting to provisions that allow countries to protect a certain number of sensitive products. But the rules as drafted in the new proposal are inconsistent with the mandate given in the motion. "This new wording does not respect Canada’s negotiating objectives. It is unacceptable for our country," says Griffith.

The spokespersons for the two coalitions are now counting on Canadian International Trade Minister David Emerson and Agriculture and Agri-Food Minister Gerry Ritz to negotiate an agreement that meets Canada’s objectives at the next WTO Ministerial Conference. In this regard, Christian Lacasse recalled a recent statement made by Secretary of State for Agriculture Christian Paradis at the general meeting of Quebec poultry farmers, as reported by the weekly La Terre de chez nous on April 24: "If Mr. Ritz goes to Geneva for a ministerial meeting, he would not enter into an agreement that would negatively affect the three pillars of supply management," Paradis said at the time. Lacasse added: "We have no reason to believe that he won’t honour this commitment. But we’ll judge by the results."

Supply-managed commodities play an essential role in Canadian agriculture. There are more than 19,000 dairy, poultry and egg farms in Canada. Supply management has generated over $6.6 billion in farm cash receipts, representing 20% of Canadian farm receipts, and over $42 billion in total economic activity. The production and processing sectors of supply-managed industries provide Canadians with over 250,000 direct and indirect jobs. More information on supply management and the coalitions’ activities can be obtained on the websites of GO5, Coalition for a Fair Farming Model, Supply Management and FarmGate5: http://go5quebec.ca and http://www.farmgate5.org.

- 30 -

‹‹ Back to News Releases