Proponents of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) stoked\u00a0expectations among cheese lovers eager for high quality, lower-priced options.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The trade department sought advice on how to allocate the new tariff rate quota (TRQ) last year, but has kept\u00a0mum about what it heard and what it intends to do.<\/p>\n
Sylvain\u00a0Charlebois, a researcher in food distribution and dean of Dalhousie University’s Rowe School of Business, said consultations were\u00a0“highly politicized.”<\/p>\n
But if new quota\u00a0isn’t divvied up correctly, he said, “you actually can jeopardize the quality of the products that we already have.”<\/p>\n
‘Difficult to justify politically’<\/h2>\n
Retailers argue\u00a0they should import all the new cheese\u00a0because that’s what’s most efficient.<\/p>\n
Not so fast, Canada’s dairy sector says: we’re the ones whose products are threatened, so we should get a cut\u00a0to offset that risk.<\/p>\n
Quebec Agriculture Minister\u00a0Laurent\u00a0Lessard\u00a0has weighed in, asking\u00a0Champagne, who represents a rural Quebec riding, to support the domestic industry by\u00a0allocating\u00a0import quota to\u00a0processors.<\/p>\n
“The government needs to make a decision, and make an announcement quickly in order to prepare,” Jacques Lefebvre\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
As head of the association representing Canada’s dairy processors, he’s worried\u00a0smaller operations\u00a0will be disadvantaged if it’s all done\u00a0in a rush before CETA is provisionally applied on July 1.<\/p>\n
Creating a profitable new business line for big retailers “is difficult to justify politically,” Lefebvre\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
Will demand last?<\/h2>\n
Canadian dairy prices are controlled by limiting how much\u00a0milk farmers can sell. Imports are strictly regulated: beyond\u00a0a\u00a0negotiated quota, the tariffs on\u00a0incoming dairy\u00a0products are so high they’re priced out of the market.<\/p>\n
In talks\u00a0with the EU, Canada agreed to more tariff-free cheese, equivalent to\u00a0about\u00a0two per cent of Canada’s overall milk production.<\/p>\n
The government will allocate\u00a016,000 tonnes of new, tariff-free quota annually for fine cheeses\u00a0and 1,700 tonnes for industrial cheese.<\/p>\n
![\"EU](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.3862925.1479851403!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/eu-europe-canada-trade-dairy-aid-20161110.jpg\")
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Canada’s dairy industry fears losses from the new EU trade deal. Dairy processors and farmers argue that being able to profit from the new cheese imports would help them survive and compete down the road. (Sean Kilpatrick\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n
CETA also requires Canada to reallocate\u00a0800\u00a0tonnes\u00a0currently held by other countries to the EU, on top of the 13,471 tonnes\u00a0of European cheese that already enter tariff free under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.<\/p>\n
Imports make up about five per cent of Canada’s current market. The new EU cheese will bump\u00a0that to nine per cent (7.5 per cent will be from Europe.)<\/p>\n
Champagne’s department says\u00a0demand is rising\u00a0by about one per cent per year, so as the EU\u00a0imports increase gradually over five years, the Canadian industry will\u00a0adjust.<\/p>\n
![\"Agropur](\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.3935345.1484343872!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/agropur-20161031.jpg\")
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