News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2004

(OTTAWA) - Canadian farmers are very disappointed with the latest draft proposals for World Trade Organization (WTO) agriculture trade rules. The proposals, unveiled today in a draft paper from WTO agriculture chair Tim Groser, reflect very little progress from the failed proposals of the Cancun negotiating session and do not work for the collective interests of Canadian agriculture.

“Any new agreement on global agricultural trade has to address the inequities that were created by the last WTO round,” said Bob Friesen, President of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA). “This draft paper fails in that regard.”

CFA, Canada’s largest national farm organization representing producers in every province and from every commodity sector, believes Groser’s proposals will hurt both Canada’s export and domestic supply-managed agriculture sectors. The draft regulations would permit heavy-subsidizing nations like the United States to continue to spend large amounts of government money on agriculture support, while crippling the ability of low-subsidizing nations like Canada to support their domestic industries. “The product-specific cap proposal would prevent Canada’s right to help struggling beef producers,” observed Friesen.

Further, the issue of market access has not been adequately addressed. The proposals will undermine Canada’s ability to maintain orderly marketing systems while providing no guarantee of increased global market access for Canadian exporters.

“Our grains producers are being hit with $1.3 billion a year in trade injury from high foreign subsidies. I don’t see that being addressed in these proposals. Anyone who supports signing this agreement will have no further right to ask our government for trade mitigation compensation,” stated Marvin Shauf, CFA Second Vice President. “Canada’s negotiators can’t even think of signing this paper in its current form.. There will have to be a lot of work done to make this even remotely acceptable.”

CFA representatives will be in Geneva next week for WTO negotiation talks.

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Founded in 1935 to provide Canada's farmers with a single voice in Ottawa, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is the country's largest farmers' organization. Its members include provincial general farm organizations as well as national and inter-provincial commodity organizations from every province. Through its members, CFA represents over 200,000 Canadian farmers and farm families.