Supply management compensation plan rumours dismissed by Ritz

Supply management compensation plan rumours dismissed by Ritz

News reports suggest the federal government may yield to outside pressure 
to grant increased access to Canadian markets

A front page Globe and Mail article claiming the federal government is planning a compensation scheme for supply management farmers “is pure speculation,” says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. The newspaper said the compensation would be intended to blunt the impact on supply management from Canada joining the Trans-Pacific Pact. Speculation about a TPP deal this

U.S. Senate building

Progress on COOL, but Canada still threatening retaliation

U.S. Senate and Obama administration need to act quickly, warns Agriculture Minister Ritz

While the House of Representatives has voted strongly to repeal the country-of-origin labelling program, the Senate and the Obama administration need to act quickly as well, warns Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. Otherwise Canada along with Mexico will be putting their case for retaliatory duties to a special meeting of the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement


Canadian agricultural minister Gerry Ritz

Canada ups the ante in COOL dispute

Canada is seeking more than $3 billion in tariffs

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is warning Canada will play hardball with American politicians who block legislation to scrap the U.S. country-of-origin labelling (COOL) program on beef and pork imports. Canada formally asked the World Trade Organization June 4 to approve slightly more than $3 billion a year in retaliatory tariffs on American food and consumer

U.S. Capitol Hill senate building

Editorial: COOL fight not over yet

U.S. legislators will soon vote to repeal, but how it will all play out remains to be clear

The WTO has made its final-final decision in Canada’s favour on U.S. labelling laws. It now appears that U.S. legislators in the House of Representatives will vote next month on a bill to repeal it. But Canada’s COOL fight isn’t over. Support for repealing the legislation is less secure from the U.S. Senate where the


meat counter in a grocery store

Pressure mounts for changes to country-of-origin labelling

WTO ruling sets the stage for U.S. repeal of COOL

The United States has three months to repeal its country-of-origin labelling program on beef and pork imports before Canada and Mexico will proceed with billions of dollars’ worth of retaliatory tariffs on American goods. In the wake of the World Trade Organization’s final decision May 18 that COOL violates international trade rules, the House of

Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership a good deal for Canada?

The economic logic behind free trade is that ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’

Is the Trans-Pacific Partnership a bulwark of freedom as proponents claim, or is Canada about to be shoehorned into another free trade deal that will continue the hollowing out of our economy? It depends on your perspective. The TPP, championed by U.S. President Barack Obama as an important addition to the world’s free trade zone


dairy cow

Editorial: More to TPP than milk and eggs

The Trans-Pacific Partnership and what a deal could mean for Canadian producers

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement now under negotiation involves 12 of the world’s largest economies, and has been described as “NAFTA on steroids.” What’s holding it up? Canadian dairy farmers. Or so you’d think about reading some of the national and international media coverage. Some of it made us think of the coverage of

meat aisle in grocery store

U.S. appeals latest WTO ruling on COOL

Retaliatory tariffs are now delayed

Canada will have to wait up to three more months before it can impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods over Washington’s mandatory country-of-origin labelling (COOL) law on meat from imported livestock. The U.S. government filed a notice of appeal Nov. 28 against the latest ruling by a World Trade Organization (WTO) compliance panel, which last


WTO in Geneva, Switzerland.

Editorial: Winning at the WTO for real

Canadian livestock producers won something to crow about but little else in the latest WTO ruling to support their claim that the U.S. mandatory country-of-origin labelling rules are unfair and discriminatory. The ruling was accompanied by the now-familiar volley of press releases from Canadian livestock and meat producers, and more sabre-rattling by federal politicians about

U.S. releases plan to make Arctic shipping safer

More open water means greater opportunities for shipping and resource extraction

As Arctic ice melts away, opening the way for greater oil development and mining, the White House outlined a plan Jan. 30 to promote safety and security in the region by building ports, improving forecasts of sea ice, and developing shipping rules. With warmer temperatures leaving Arctic sea passages open for longer periods of the