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As Britain joined the 11 signatories of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to celebrate an agreement in principle to expand the deal early Friday morning, the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association threatened to lobby against the ratification unless the long-standing beef. are corralled and fixed.
CPTPP member states, including Canada, concluded nearly two years of accession talks with the British government earlier this month in Vietnam. The proposal, which includes a side letter to protect sensitive industries, is not yet public and has not been legally scrutinized, officially signed or ratified by all members.
This is the first potential expansion of the Pacific Rim trade agreement since it took effect between the six original members in late 2018.
But while Trade Minister Mary Ng welcomed the conclusion of the accession talks and expressed the Canadian government’s official support for adding a “long-time friend and ally” to this club, Canada’s beef industry signaled that it is no longer ready for a trade agreement that cannot be implemented. . Don’t do what you promise.
“If the Canadian government brings a ratification bill to Parliament without addressing the British barriers to Canadian beef, CCA will approach the entire Parliament to defeat this bill,” said Nathan Phinney, president of the Canadian Beef Association.
Ratification of the trade agreement falls to the cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. But actually implementing a trade deal requires changes in laws and regulations that must go through Parliament. And Canada’s ratification process, which was changed in response to the concerns of opposition lawmakers during the NAFTA talks, gives other parties in the current minority Parliament more opportunities to block and delay the agreement when they have concerns.
With the UK’s application to join the CPTPP, the biggest controversy in Canada comes from cows. Both types – beef and regular.
As cattle farmers lose patience, the future of tariff-free British Stilton (or other cheese varieties) hangs in the balance.
CETA’s unfinished business
The current tension is a legacy of where negotiators landed on the Canada-EU Comprehensive Trade and Economic Agreement (CETA).
Two separate negotiations are now fraught – deliberations to add the first new member to the Pacific bloc and Canada’s bilateral talks on a bespoke trade agreement with the UK to replace the terms of the interim agreement Canada entered into after Britain voted to leave Europe. Union.
When CETA negotiations broke down a decade ago, additional access to Canada’s protected dairy market for European cheese was traded, at least in part, for additional market access that Canadian livestock producers wanted in the European Union – a similar and notoriously defensive trade bloc. from the powerful farmers themselves.
Despite the constant arguments about the fairness of how the license to import milk without tariffs is granted by the Canadian government (the fight that is currently being waged by the US in its own CUSMA dispute, and by New Zealand in the first dispute initiated under the new mechanism of the CPTPP), Canada now buys imported cheese apart.
Canadian beef, however, has not been delivered to European consumers in the numbers promised first by the Europeans and then by British negotiators. Discuss the implementation of CETA to solve these problems by learning more and negotiating.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s statement there touts how the British agreement in principle to join the CPTPP upholds British “food safety standards.”
For war-hardened Canadian beef producers after several rounds with Europe, Sunak’s words sound like protectionist code.
Common processing methods in North America remain unapproved by European or British regulators, despite years of negotiations to resolve issues that Canada considers unrelated to science or safety.
If the Canadian beef plant, which is already in short supply, cannot be certified for the UK export market, Canadian cattle cannot be slaughtered for export to the UK. the marginal load for Canadian exports is very high.
It also goes against what should be at the heart of the CPTPP: common standards.
British ships double what Canadians can
The CCA said its producers did not export any beef to the UK market last year. Demand for Canadian beef remains strong both domestically and globally, including among other CPTPP partners.
As negotiators continue to squabble, the industry is aligning on what makes commercial sense. But that doesn’t mean everyone is satisfied – and farmers are also worried about their long-term global competitiveness.
In a release on Friday, the CCA said it is aware that the UK allows other members of the CPTPP – including countries like New Zealand and Australia that compete with Canadian beef internationally – unlimited access to the UK market. Meanwhile, Canada has been given access to additional beef “off the table.”
In addition to the cheese trade, English beef farmers have their own access to the Canadian market. Canada may not send anything east to the UK, but the UK is exporting 4,414 tonnes of beef west to Canada by 2022 – almost double what Canadian farmers are allowed to send to the UK under the current trade agreement.
“Yesterday’s announcement of the UK’s accession to the CPTPP further harms Canadian beef producers and is fundamentally unfair,” said Phinney.
To date, cattle producers have supported ongoing negotiations to correct what they see as “lopsided gains” from bilateral agricultural trade with the UK.
Beef farmers lobbied hard for the CPTPP because it gives market access to places like Japan for the first time, and said it has been “a great agreement” for them.
But “the agreement with the UK that leaves significant barriers in place does not meet the standards of the CPTPP and the UK’s offer to join should be rejected until they can do better to meet the progressive trade principles of the CPTPP,” CCA said.
If the UK refuses, cattle producers say they will delay the accession of the CPTPP by any means in Parliament and seek bilateral negotiations until they are satisfied.
What will the lawmakers do?
CBC News reached out to Conservative and NDP trade critics for comment on Thursday but has not yet received a response.
If ratification takes too long, the UK could lose access to the Canadian cheese market in the meantime.
Provisions of the temporary “rollover” agreement – implemented quickly after Brexit to ensure that trade continues to flow as under CETA – will expire at the end of 2023. The sunset provision is intended to focus minds on potential costs. from market disruption and pressured both sides not to let the negotiations drag on for too long.
The next round of bilateral negotiations is expected in June.
After becoming a member of the CPTPP, the UK can access tariff-free import quotas for cheese and a list of additional dairy products, as well as other commodities managed in Canada, such as chicken and eggs.
The large volume was originally negotiated to accommodate the demand of the American market in the original Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations that ended in 2015. When US president Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2017, competitors like New Zealand and Australia found themselves eligible for larger ones. market access in Canada, to the point where a substantial amount of the available import quota has not even been taken up to date – although in its CPTPP dispute is active, New Zealand argues this is at least partly because Canada has put administrative obstacles in its way.
Once UK membership is ratified, the UK is eligible to share this CPTPP volume with existing members. But whether it can continue to access CETA or WTO cheese quotas rolled into an interim trade deal with Canada remains in doubt.
Canada says additional access to the Canadian dairy market is non-negotiable in bilateral talks.
“The UK has now joined the CPTPP. This will provide UK milk exporters with access to the Canadian market,” Canadian Dairy Farmers said in a brief statement Thursday afternoon. “We expect the Canadian government to be vigilant in ensuring that dairy products arriving in Canada comply with domestic standards for food safety and production, and that any volume allowed into Canada is implemented in accordance with the terms of the agreement.”
Canadian dairy farmers have already paid more than $3 billion in compensation for anticipated losses from the implementation of CETA and CPTPP.
Beef farmers say that while the trade issue is not resolved and the government is unable to deliver on what it promised to the affected industry, the beef industry is also seeking compensation.
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