In Brief… – for Sep. 23, 2010

COOL hearing underway: Canadian Cattlemen’s Association president Travis Toews said he is pleased with how the Canadian government presented its case against U. S. Country of Origin Labelling legislation before a WTO dispute settlement panel in Geneva, Switzerland last week. The U. S. did not challenge any of Canada’s economic evidence, but argued that these

Two More Farmers Running In CWB’s District 9 – for Sep. 16, 2010

Two more farmers have announced they’re running to be the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) director in district 9. Garry Draper and John Sandborn farm at Lenore and Benito, respectively. Last month Dauphin-area farmer Ernie Sirski announced he was running for the job being vacated by Shoal Lake farmer Bill Nicholson, who can’t run again because


WTO COOL Panel Finally Underway – for Sep. 9, 2010

Eight years after first appearing in legislation and over a year after becoming law, the U. S. country-of- origin labelling (COOL) rule will undergo a legal challenge at the World Trade Organization. A WTO panel this month in Geneva will hear arguments from Canada and Mexico that COOL violates international trade rules. Hearings are scheduled

Doha Talks At Dead End, Trade Expert Says – for Aug. 19, 2010

The Doha round of WTO negotiations are kept alive through pretence because no one wants to admit they’re as good as dead, says trade expert Peter Clark. A longtime Doha doubter, whose predictions have proved remarkably accurate, Clark has released a 49-page gloomy diagnosis about the state of the Doha round that was supposed to


U.S. Farmers Urge Sanctions Against EU’s GM Crop Ban – for Aug. 12, 2010

The largest U.S. farm group has urged the Obama administration to begin steps towards imposing sanctions on the European Union in a long-running dispute over the EU’s treatment of genetically modified crops. The American Farm Bureau Federation, in comments given to the administration July 26, complained the EU still has not complied with a 2006

U.S. Farmers Urge Sanctions Against EU’s GM Crop Ban – for Aug. 12, 2010

The largest U.S. farm group has urged the Obama administration to begin steps towards imposing sanctions on the European Union in a long-running dispute over the EU’s treatment of genetically modified crops. The American Farm Bureau Federation, in comments given to the administration July 26, complained the EU still has not complied with a 2006


Cautious Approach Urged In EU Trade Talks

“(Canadian farmers) would be forgiven for suggesting that the standard of support in the EU is risk elimination.” – TRADE CONSULTANT PETER CLARK Acautious approach to negotiating the agriculture component of a free trade agreement with the European Union is needed, warns trade expert Peter Clark. Clark’s observations about the trade talks came as the

In Brief… – for Jul. 1, 2010

Out of time: Wet conditions limited planting by Western Canadian farmers this spring to only 82 per cent of the original planned acreage, the Canadian Wheat Board said June 21. The final crop insurance deadlines passed on June 20. Farmers are expected to plant their smallest acreage of wheat, durum and barley in decades and


Not Such A Bad Idea

JOHN MORRISS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR It seems that in U. S. households, there aren’t many battles over who gets the legs and thighs. Actually, the real problem seems to be that the fast-food chains don’t want their chicken fingers and McNuggets to be too tasty, or at least anything other than snow white. Hence the 90.59

Trade Talks Stuck In Past

The surest way to confirm if anyone in Washington, D. C. is telling you the truth about trade is to watch their lips: if they move, they’re stretching the blanket one way or the other. Of course, not many lips have moved on trade last year or this year. Indeed, on the White House to-do