Trade Deal Shouldn’t Sacrifice Made-in-Canada Solutions

(Calgary Herald – Larry Hill, Canadian Wheat Board)

The grain producers of Western Canada are highly reliant on trade. We produce far more than what our domestic population can consume. Whether it is wheat, canola, peas or oats, we need to sell our products beyond our borders in order to maintain the prosperity of our farm businesses.

So it is not surprising that grain producers like me support trade. We also support rules to ensure that trade between nations is fair and principled.

The current Doha Round of the ongoing World Trade Organization talks holds promise of bringing greater fairness to agricultural trade between the world’s nations. The grain producers of Western Canada support the intent of these talks and we hope that they are successful.

By the same token, we are wary of the notion that we must give up major components of our made-in-Canada approach to marketing agricultural commodities to ensure that a deal is reached in the Doha Round. A call for such concessions fails to account for the reality of how our industry is structured and how orderly marketing systems like the Canadian Wheat Board, which I chair, actually function.

The Western Canadian grain industry has repeatedly been subjected to trade challenges – a total of 14 times since 1990. In each case, the result has been the same: the CWB does not violate international trade regulations and acts as a fair and commercial marketer of western Canadian wheat and barley.

This was confirmed as recently as 2005, when the U.S. International Trade Commission dismissed U.S. claims that Canada was in contravention of anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws.

The reason the CWB continues to be targeted is simple: protectionist interests in other competing nations view the CWB as a threat.